(19 Jan 2014, 5:53 pm)Dan wrote I just thought of the coach hire because there's only a half hour or so difference in the timings if you go direct by coach rather than train and connections. Stands a chance of being cheaper too!

(19 Jan 2014, 6:23 pm)andreos1 wrote Just tell them you're off to the Metrocentre man.
Theyll never know

(19 Jan 2014, 5:53 pm)Dan wrote Would be much appreciated, Adam! If it sounds like quite a few people would like to get involved in this trip (obviously a long way away yet), it may be nice if NEB could organise monthly day trips.


I just thought of the coach hire because there's only a half hour or so difference in the timings if you go direct by coach rather than train and connections. Stands a chance of being cheaper too!

(19 Jan 2014, 8:39 pm)fozzovmurton wrote I like that idea Dan, being the social kinda dude I am, liking to meet people and shit, I would be up for taking part in the social aspect of enthusiasm, finances permitting of course...

(19 Jan 2014, 7:29 pm)Adam wrote An important point though regarding the trains is that if there is over 9 of you going, then Group Travel comes into play.

Last year, I was placed in charge of the buses and trains for my Business Class' trip to Edinburgh and I managed to save my school £230 on rail fares alone because of the Group Travel! In total for 10 people (including teachers) I managed to get the price down from £380 to £150.

However, because I explained to them it was a school trip, I don't know if East Coast gave us special rates that differ to standard Group Travel. Certainly worth exploring

(19 Jan 2014, 8:41 pm)Dan wrote Have I got you down as a 'Yes' on this thread, then? ;-)

(19 Jan 2014, 10:07 pm)Dan wrote On a completely different note, here's a trip I'm looking at for the summer:

MEGABUS (£5.00):
Departs 06:05 Sunderland , Park Lane Bus Interchange Stand W
Arrives 14:45 Cardiff , Kingsway, Stop GQ

MEGABUS GOLD (£5.00):
Departs 16:30 Cardiff , Kingsway, Stop GQ
Arrives 20:05 London , Victoria Coach Station

MEGABUS (£10.00):
Departs 22:30 London , Victoria Coach Station
Arrives 07:35 EDINBURGH, EDINBURGH BUS STATION

EAST COAST (£10.40):
Departs 14:08 Edinburgh [EDB] Platform 19
Arrives 15:33 Newcastle [NCL] Platform 4


Most of you will perish the thought of so long on a coach. Personally don't mind them, as long as I have plug sockets, Wi-Fi and plenty of music!


The alternative would be to jump off the Megabus at Newcastle (around half 4 in the morning it arrives), and leave the Scotland section for another time.

(19 Jan 2014, 10:22 pm)aureolin wrote Shouldn't be too bad for that overnight, as long as you get plenty leg room and comfort! Never used megabus so can't comment really.

Shame you don't have more time in London, but there's always next time!

(19 Jan 2014, 10:07 pm)Dan wrote On a completely different note, here's a trip I'm looking at for the summer:

MEGABUS (£5.00):
Departs 06:05 Sunderland , Park Lane Bus Interchange Stand W
Arrives 14:45 Cardiff , Kingsway, Stop GQ

MEGABUS GOLD (£5.00):
Departs 16:30 Cardiff , Kingsway, Stop GQ
Arrives 20:05 London , Victoria Coach Station

MEGABUS (£10.00):
Departs 22:30 London , Victoria Coach Station
Arrives 07:35 EDINBURGH, EDINBURGH BUS STATION

EAST COAST (£10.40):
Departs 14:08 Edinburgh [EDB] Platform 19
Arrives 15:33 Newcastle [NCL] Platform 4


Most of you will perish the thought of so long on a coach. Personally don't mind them, as long as I have plug sockets, Wi-Fi and plenty of music!


The alternative would be to jump off the Megabus at Newcastle (around half 4 in the morning it arrives), and leave the Scotland section for another time.

(19 Jan 2014, 10:30 pm)Dan wrote As long as it isn't a dupe service, it will be fine.

Will be using London as a central hub in the summer all being well - want to get some photos of every Go Ahead operator.

(19 Jan 2014, 10:07 pm)Dan wrote On a completely different note, here's a trip I'm looking at for the summer:

MEGABUS (£5.00):
Departs 06:05 Sunderland , Park Lane Bus Interchange Stand W
Arrives 14:45 Cardiff , Kingsway, Stop GQ

MEGABUS GOLD (£5.00):
Departs 16:30 Cardiff , Kingsway, Stop GQ
Arrives 20:05 London , Victoria Coach Station

MEGABUS (£10.00):
Departs 22:30 London , Victoria Coach Station
Arrives 07:35 EDINBURGH, EDINBURGH BUS STATION

EAST COAST (£10.40):
Departs 14:08 Edinburgh [EDB] Platform 19
Arrives 15:33 Newcastle [NCL] Platform 4


Most of you will perish the thought of so long on a coach. Personally don't mind them, as long as I have plug sockets, Wi-Fi and plenty of music!


The alternative would be to jump off the Megabus at Newcastle (around half 4 in the morning it arrives), and leave the Scotland section for another time.

(19 Jan 2014, 10:41 pm)fozzovmurton wrote When are you gonna be booking that up mate, I would be up for that if i had the money and, of coueseif you wanted company

(19 Jan 2014, 10:52 pm)Dan wrote God knows.
Would be a summer trip but I'd be booking a month in advance to secure those Megabus Wednesday trips for a fiver.

I need the money myself first!

(19 Jan 2014, 10:52 pm)Dan wrote God knows.
Would be a summer trip but I'd be booking a month in advance to secure those Megabus Wednesday trips for a fiver.

I need the money myself first!

(19 Jan 2014, 10:55 pm)tyresmoke wrote All fares stay at £5 on a Wednesday Dan so you needn't worry about them going up. Unsure if Gold is included in that though?

(19 Jan 2014, 10:55 pm)tyresmoke wrote All fares stay at £5 on a Wednesday Dan so you needn't worry about them going up. Unsure if Gold is included in that though?

(20 Jan 2014, 6:50 pm)fozzovmurton wrote Was just thinking about this again this morning and thinking about cost of coach hire...

Using the Dunfermline trip as an example, lets say we can hire a vehicle for 15 quid a head, could we not mark it up to 20 notes a head, with the leftover cash being pumped back into NEB to be used for either:-

1. A prize fund for a photo of the year competition, i.e. the 12 monthly winners are entered into POTY with cash prizes for the top 3

2. Put it back into a days out fund so that next time coach hire might be a few quid a head cheaper

3. Produce an NEB Calendar, A Calendar would mostly only be interesting to enthusiasts, but money made could again be thrown back into a coach hire fund...

4. When there was a enough money, organise our own NEB Bus Rally(I appreciate this may be a tough ask and cost lots of money to put on)

Lets say we could could consistently get 15/20 every trip that would see an extra 75-100 notes to do something with...

Probably daft ideas, but ideas all the same

(20 Jan 2014, 7:06 pm)Dan wrote Not sure whether everyone would go for £20/head... I'm trying my best to get it down as cheap as possible, but proving difficult when most of the companies are wanting £500+.

Best deal so far is with Jim Hughes, at £450. To get that at £15/head, we need 30 passengers to occupy a 33-seater midi-coach. If it was £20/head, we would need 23 passengers. I'm not sure how many really will go for it - there's only 5 definite 'Yes' answers on the poll at the moment with 5 'Maybe' answers. So for argument's sake, let's say 7 people will go. I think it would be rather difficult to get that up to 23, nevermind 30. Most won't want to hand in the money beforehand rather than just on the day, but there's obviously no security at my end if it does go tits up.

If we did miraculously get 30 passengers for the trip and we charged £20 each, that's obviously £150 which we could have to play around with. Putting it back into the next trip would be a great idea though.

(20 Jan 2014, 8:37 pm)fozzovmurton wrote Understood mate...

Out of inrerest, who exactly have you approached up to now, is there anything any of us can do i.e. asking businesses on our own doorstep...Where I live, just to name a few I have Snowdens, Pygalls, Northstar, Ted Wilford...Roberts, Safari and Don Smiths(if those last 3 are still in Business)...I am seeing my mate on Saturday, when I was a volunteer for him at a Youth Group we used to have 3 or 4 outings a year and would almost always book a coach and would always get a good deal even though we would mostly only fill half a full sized coach...

Anyway, thanks Dan for enquiring into it on behalf of everyone, what you should do and I know you have said as much already is open seats up to everyone, put the word out to the whole North East Enthusiast Scene on a first come, first served basis once you know who from NEB would be going...

Keep up the good work pal (Y)

(20 Jan 2014, 7:06 pm)Dan wrote Not sure whether everyone would go for £20/head... I'm trying my best to get it down as cheap as possible, but proving difficult when most of the companies are wanting £500+.

Best deal so far is with Jim Hughes, at £450. To get that at £15/head, we need 30 passengers to occupy a 33-seater midi-coach. If it was £20/head, we would need 23 passengers. I'm not sure how many really will go for it - there's only 5 definite 'Yes' answers on the poll at the moment with 5 'Maybe' answers. So for argument's sake, let's say 7 people will go. I think it would be rather difficult to get that up to 23, nevermind 30. Most won't want to hand in the money beforehand rather than just on the day, but there's obviously no security at my end if it does go tits up.

If we did miraculously get 30 passengers for the trip and we charged £20 each, that's obviously £150 which we could have to play around with. Putting it back into the next trip would be a great idea though.

(20 Jan 2014, 9:09 pm)Adam Malarkey wrote Just a thought, what about contacting Taxi Companies like Gateshead Central Taxis see if they do Hires for the Day as no doubt it'll be Cheaper than Hiring through JH and Kingsley's etc, GL Minibuses of Washington is another one that has came to mind if we going to struggle to get above the "15 People Mark", as they do 12/14 and 16 Seater Minibuses (Ford Transits).

http://www.glminibuses.co.uk/

(21 Jan 2014, 8:24 am)AdamY wrote I went on another bus adventure yesterday venturing further afield using an Explorer North East ticket. I left the house at around 9:30 and got back around 20:30. My journey was as follows:

45 to Metrocentre
X66 to Gateshead
X1 to Washington
50 to Durham
7 to Darlington
X66 to Middlesbrough
1 to Hartlepool
X35 to Sunderland
Metro to Heworth
Northern Rail to Metrocentre
47 back home to Rowlands Gill

I will never get the X35 from Hartlepool to Sunderland again. It takes far too long and the buses used are not the most comfortable. When at Peterlee, I asked the driver whether there was an X9 due to Newcastle as connections between the services are apparently available. He said he didn't know, more or less forcing me to stay on the bus as I didn't really want to hang around Peterlee on the off-chance that a bus may appear. If I ever make that trip again, it's the 23 for me.

How long does the diversionary route on the 1 add onto the journey time?

(21 Jan 2014, 8:29 am)fozzovmurton wrote I have never seen those services connect effectively...but the X35 is a long old haul...24 from P/lee is the best option to Sunderland

(21 Jan 2014, 8:42 am)AdamY wrote My journey on the X35 was made all the more fun by 3 drunken morons (one apparently blind; another with a Petrol Can) boarding at Easington Lane hurling abuse at the female passengers on the bus. The other passengers alighted at Houghton and Doxford leaving me alone on the bus with them all the way to Sunderland. They were sitting at the back, me in the space where the two sets of seats face each other, so they were say right behind me drinking cider and being generally ladgeful. It was quite tense.

(21 Jan 2014, 8:42 am)AdamY wrote My journey on the X35 was made all the more fun by 3 drunken morons (one apparently blind; another with a Petrol Can) boarding at Easington Lane hurling abuse at the female passengers on the bus. The other passengers alighted at Houghton and Doxford leaving me alone on the bus with them all the way to Sunderland. They were sitting at the back, me in the space where the two sets of seats face each other, so they were say right behind me drinking cider and being generally ladgeful. It was quite tense.