(15 Aug 2022, 12:34 pm)Jack Gill wrote It is a shame to see the 10/A/B reduced to every 15 minutes, these services are always busy.

(15 Aug 2022, 12:48 pm)busmanT wrote I don’t know how GNE are going to carry all the passengers between Newcastle and Metrocentre- the X45/46/47 have already been reduced from 6 buses per hour to 4; now the 10 is being reduced the same; and they are carrying the Stagecoach passengers off the suspended 100.I hope that the 10/A/B and X45/47 are co-ordinated to provide an even headway.

Meanwhile the 96 continues unchanged, largely carrying fresh air.

(15 Aug 2022, 12:44 pm)busmanT wrote The problem with reducing frequency is that each remaining bus gets busier, which makes the drivers job harder. Also as each bus is busier journeys need more running and layover time (to cope with the extra time it takes to load and unload a busier bus) but GNE rarely increase these.

(15 Aug 2022, 12:34 pm)Jack Gill wrote It is a shame to see the 10/A/B reduced to every 15 minutes, these services are always busy.

(15 Aug 2022, 12:44 pm)busmanT wrote The problem with reducing frequency is that each remaining bus gets busier, which makes the drivers job harder. Also as each bus is busier journeys need more running and layover time (to cope with the extra time it takes to load and unload a busier bus) but GNE rarely increase these.

(15 Aug 2022, 2:09 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Jesus, the confusing QA and QB idea didn’t last long then. Who’d have thought it.

Passengers on the X40/Q3/QA&QB/Q3 and the Q1&Q2/51&52 routes mustn’t know whether they’re coming or going.
Simpler to just take the car or an Uber.

(15 Aug 2022, 2:12 pm)F114TML wrote I will admit, the X20, 60 and 65 are changes that have surprised me.

(15 Aug 2022, 2:15 pm)Adrian wrote Spotted this tweet for a service that is being reduced to every hour...



So what's the message nowadays? We need more people to use public transport, but not too many, or we can't operate to our timetable?

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

(15 Aug 2022, 12:41 pm)Wybus wrote How many different big batches of service changes have they had now since the ‘Buses fit for the future’ brochure was published?

(15 Aug 2022, 2:18 pm)Malarkey wrote Since that was released in September 2021 we have had the following:

September 2021 Fit For The Future Guide: https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/getting-buses-fit-future-changes-services-5-september
October 2021 - https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/service-increases-and-changes-31-october
January 2022 - https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/service-changes-30-january
March 2022 - https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/hexham-service-changes-monday-14-march
May 2022 Consultation - https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/consultation
June 2022 Consultation Update - https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/update-service-changes-24-july
July 2022 Consultation Confirmed Changes - https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/service-changes-24-july
August 2022 September Changes - https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/service-changes-3-september

If anything i'd say they've made them "Unfit For The Future" in past 12 months with the amount of cuts they've done, they've almost halved the service operations yet still don't have enough drivers because of taking on a number of contracts that are out of there operational remit such as Scholars/Works Contracts, Kynren/Durham Cricket P&R's & T&W Metro Replacements. I certainly agree with what another member said on here a few days ago in that Go North East should be focusing on there commercial operations and working within there means rather than taking on excessive amounts of contracts that results in service cancellation to facilitate the latter to operate as a priority at the paying customers expense.

(15 Aug 2022, 2:28 pm)Jack Gill wrote There's no point in them halting contract work, it probably pays them a big chunk which allows them to pay drivers etc and probably pays a lot more than all except a select few of their commercial services.

(15 Aug 2022, 2:18 pm)Malarkey wrote If anything i'd say they've made them "Unfit For The Future" in past 12 months with the amount of cuts they've done, they've almost halved the service operations yet still don't have enough drivers because of taking on a number of contracts that are out of there operational remit such as Scholars/Works Contracts, Kynren/Durham Cricket P&R's & T&W Metro Replacements. I certainly agree with what another member said on here a few days ago in that Go North East should be focusing on there commercial operations and working within there means rather than taking on excessive amounts of contracts that results in service cancellation to facilitate the latter to operate as a priority at the paying customers expense.

(15 Aug 2022, 2:32 pm)Adrian wrote To play devils advocate though, and as I've said previously on here, the contract work is guaranteed income for any operator. Commercial work isn't, and it'd be a really dangerous move financially to abandon the contract work side of things.

Like it or not, but commercial services have a higher risk factor, as they can end up running around all day carrying fresh air. That's not to say I agree with the deregulated market - far from it - but that's the reality we have in the current system.

In an ideal world under the current system, operators would all maintain a good balance of commercial and contract work, but the latter is becoming more and more competitive to win, because public sector procurement is essentially a race to the bottom. GNE have always ran for contract work, and really it's only even being raised as an issue because of the driver shortage and commercial work going uncovered. Again, that's the nature of the beast, and it'll come down to penalties for non-operation of contract work vs nothing for non-operation of commercial work. We'd see a different attitude if there was a universal system like delay repay in place, but there's another fault in the current system...

(15 Aug 2022, 2:41 pm)Drifter60 wrote I really hope some of these changes are just temporary the A690 corridor only having 4 bph seems very sparse when considering you had the 20 every 10 minutes in the past + the 55 in various guises twice an hour & 2 buses extra, each hour with the X20. The 65 changes mean there’s now only 1 bus to Seaham from Murton each hour, when there was 3 ph back in July.

Whilst I must admit it’s preferable in one sense to have stripped back timetables rather than missing services/cancellations left, right and centre some of the changes lack any sense of forethought. I’ll expand on my thoughts when I’ve got more time. But the amount of changes/cuts we’ve seen since the pandemic can surely only be putting customers off. People aren’t necessarily going to flock back to the 65, 10B and the 8 once they’re increased (if they ever go back) to the usual timetables, as people will have changed to other methods of getting around - car sharing or perhaps cycling.

(15 Aug 2022, 2:36 pm)Unber43 wrote There should be £50 for any service which doesn't operate a full journey e.g 50 South Shields to Durham £50, Durham to Washington £25

GNE would come up with drivers.

(15 Aug 2022, 3:03 pm)Storx wrote I might be missing something here but how on earth are you supposed to know which way the Q3 does the loop when they're both the same number...

(15 Aug 2022, 3:16 pm)Unber43 wrote I don't think it will be that big of an issue if you get on the longer one, I think its only like an extra 5 mins

(15 Aug 2022, 3:29 pm)ne14ne1 wrote When getting on at Great Park how do you know which side of the street to wait at, especially if you aren’t able to run across the road if you see one coming in the other direction?

(15 Aug 2022, 2:32 pm)Adrian wrote To play devils advocate though, and as I've said previously on here, the contract work is guaranteed income for any operator. Commercial work isn't, and it'd be a really dangerous move financially to abandon the contract work side of things.

Like it or not, but commercial services have a higher risk factor, as they can end up running around all day carrying fresh air. That's not to say I agree with the deregulated market - far from it - but that's the reality we have in the current system.

In an ideal world under the current system, operators would all maintain a good balance of commercial and contract work, but the latter is becoming more and more competitive to win, because public sector procurement is essentially a race to the bottom. GNE have always ran for contract work, and really it's only even being raised as an issue because of the driver shortage and commercial work going uncovered. Again, that's the nature of the beast, and it'll come down to penalties for non-operation of contract work vs nothing for non-operation of commercial work. We'd see a different attitude if there was a universal system like delay repay in place, but there's another fault in the current system...

(15 Aug 2022, 2:36 pm)Unber43 wrote There should be £50 for any service which doesn't operate a full journey e.g 50 South Shields to Durham £50, Durham to Washington £25

GNE would come up with drivers.

(15 Aug 2022, 2:28 pm)DeltaMan wrote When you see it listed like that, it screams firefighting

(15 Aug 2022, 4:16 pm)pbjd wrote Because the times won't change just the route number?