(16 Jan 2023, 6:37 pm)RobinHood wrote They are the same drivers.

I suspect Arriva don't want to use them longer than they need to either - they are likely more expensive overall.

However, the business is clearly trying to respond to the issues they are facing. An agency driver is better than no driver in the current climate, surely.

(26 Jan 2023, 5:22 am)DeltaMan wrote Fair play to GNE for not having a single planned journey cancellation for the last few days.

(26 Jan 2023, 5:30 am)Dan wrote Contrary to what The Chronicle would have you believe, GNE is fully staffed (albeit over-staffed in some locations and under-staffed at Riverside). Cancellations have been minimal for weeks and most days have had no cancellations for the past week or so.


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(26 Jan 2023, 9:22 am)Rob44 wrote I know bus driving is different but when one of our other sites at work is short on staff and we are " over staffed" myself or colleges have to move there to keep it running for the good of the customers.  Could this not be done in GNE case..... looking at the route ran by riverside i think i could do them without and route learning ( we except the 12 as that's to complicated) so surely a experienced bus driver could do the same?

(26 Jan 2023, 10:42 am)Dan wrote This already happens (and is incentivised by GNE) but it is voluntary-based and not mandated.


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(01 Feb 2023, 1:02 am)Ambassador wrote Cancelling the 22.26 ex ES Angel today was a true master stroke, on behalf of the Uber and private cab industry.

Top class stuff

(01 Feb 2023, 5:41 am)Dan wrote As the c.70 passengers who travelled on that journey are aware… it did operate, but around 20 minutes late.

The driver came in off an X10 and ran that journey (as well as return trip from Durham) instead of going back to the depot on arrival from Middlesbrough.

Caught up most of its time by the return trip.


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(01 Feb 2023, 11:37 pm)Ambassador wrote was on the cancellation list which is helpfully printed out at ES and wasn’t tracking on the app…you can see why a huge amount left the queue and went for a cab? The queue was back past Costa

(02 Feb 2023, 9:47 am)And Adrian wrote If a huge amount left, in addition to the 70 that Dan says travelled on the bus, there can't have been enough room for them all to get onto that bus.

In general, and more so on busy nights (such as when the Toon are playing midweek), those evening 21s become a problem. People wanting to travel beyond Chester-le-Street lose out, due to the bus being full of folk wanting off along Low Fell. 

The Durham evening 21s should really run as X21s, letting the shorts pick up the rest.

(02 Feb 2023, 9:47 am)Adrian wrote If a huge amount left, in addition to the 70 that Dan says travelled on the bus, there can't have been enough room for them all to get onto that bus.

In general, and more so on busy nights (such as when the Toon are playing midweek), those evening 21s become a problem. People wanting to travel beyond Chester-le-Street lose out, due to the bus being full of folk wanting off along Low Fell. 

The Durham evening 21s should really run as X21s, letting the shorts pick up the rest.

(02 Feb 2023, 12:24 pm)nova347 wrote For GNE Service Cancellation Website over the past 2 months or something the days where there's been no Depford Cancellations, there are a lot of times Deptford routes just don't run. The 07:34 60 a lot of the time with routes. I know there was one day the 16:23 ran and I just missed that the next 60 didn't run till 17:30. They might not be listed but especially the 60 has had loads of routes not run not to mention the significant delays the 60s have had over the past few months.

(01 Feb 2023, 1:02 am)Ambassador wrote Cancelling the 22.26 ex ES Angel today was a true master stroke, on behalf of the Uber and private cab industry.

Top class stuff

(02 Feb 2023, 9:47 am)Adrian wrote If a huge amount left, in addition to the 70 that Dan says travelled on the bus, there can't have been enough room for them all to get onto that bus.

In general, and more so on busy nights (such as when the Toon are playing midweek), those evening 21s become a problem. People wanting to travel beyond Chester-le-Street lose out, due to the bus being full of folk wanting off along Low Fell. 

The Durham evening 21s should really run as X21s, letting the shorts pick up the rest.

(04 Feb 2023, 11:01 pm)EastCoastMXZ1751 wrote Surely when there's queues and an alternative the driver could say only passengers for unique sections of the route to be allowed on rather than those doing short hops that there's another route to do it on. People do it at haymarket on the X services with arriva all the time they'll get sn X to Gosforth when there's a 43/44/45 in or let a 43/44/45 go and get an X or often as it happens on the 2nd morning X30 let an X11 go at regent centre to get the usually delayed X30.

(04 Feb 2023, 11:01 pm)EastCoastMXZ1751 wrote Surely when there's queues and an alternative the driver could say only passengers for unique sections of the route to be allowed on rather than those doing short hops that there's another route to do it on. People do it at haymarket on the X services with arriva all the time they'll get sn X to Gosforth when there's a 43/44/45 in or let a 43/44/45 go and get an X or often as it happens on the 2nd morning X30 let an X11 go at regent centre to get the usually delayed X30.

(07 Feb 2023, 12:14 am)Ambassador wrote Now…the last time we had two consecutive days of cancellations on the 21 it was because those pesky Chester le Street shirkers weren’t working thei rest days

I can only assume the 9 cancellations yesterday and the 8 today (including the last bus from Durham) are because …erm….Dan? Lee? Anyone wanna fill us in? And middle of the day is fine relatively, but it’s this evening axes basically making a service hourly that really impact.

You could complain (as did I after being stranded for an hour and a half) but they literally don’t care. The service has utterly nose dived since Riverside took over. I’ve got colleagues paying well over £1k a year for GNE services and my taxi expense bill is higher than ever, I fear for those who don’t have a strong employer behind them.

(07 Feb 2023, 3:44 pm)Unber43 wrote I wonder if the 58 has moved back to Riverside as its had Crusaders/Loops on, there was also an EGRider on X21 today.

(07 Feb 2023, 3:59 pm)missedbus wrote Pretty certain it has. The EG Rider buses are shown in the recent fleet news update as having moved to Riverside. 
This would likely partly explain why Riverside cancellations are up and Washington hasn't had any for a little while.

(07 Feb 2023, 9:55 pm)ASX_Terranova wrote Why was the 58 moved in the first place?

(07 Feb 2023, 10:04 pm)Dan wrote It was moved to Washington because Go North East guaranteed drivers their choice of depot when Chester-le-Street closed, rather than them being forced to transfer to the depot that needed the most staff (Riverside).

Once driver numbers settled, it was always the plan for services to move back to the depots which they are most suited to operate from - i.e the 58 at Riverside.

Prior to 29 January, lost mileage was almost nil at most depots on most days (as had been observed on this forum), so it was the right time for the first move back to Riverside.

Running services from the wrong depot is not only very costly and inefficient, but also results in extra drivers being needed to run those services, making the recruitment gap even bigger. Presumably the surplus of drivers from the outgoing depot might facilitate frequencies being restored on routes with temporary reductions, ie 8 at Washington and 65 at Deptford.

The 6, 25 and 28/29 are the other non-scholars services which, at some point, will transfer to Riverside.

In the meantime with the transfer of the 58, Riverside are now short-staffed again (hence the rise in short-notice cancellations). Recruitment efforts are being focused on Gateshead, and some drivers from depots which are over-staffed (ie Percy Main, Consett and Washington) are temporarily (and voluntarily) moving to Riverside. In the short-term there will be some disruption at Riverside again, but the company’s financial performance should improve and overall lost mileage will reduce.

As I have said several times now, the company is under new leadership - and they are clearly making every effort to improve the financial performance of the business.


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