(12 Jan 2022, 10:10 am)streetdeckfan wrote I love how there's absolutely no mention of the huge downgrade in vehicles on the X84, sorry 684

(12 Jan 2022, 10:10 am)streetdeckfan wrote I love how there's absolutely no mention of the huge downgrade in vehicles on the X84, sorry 684

(12 Jan 2022, 10:14 am)Dan wrote It'd be an odd thing to shout about...

The customers on that route will already know - they've been on Versas now for weeks - and it's more or less the same specification offered by the Arriva-operated journeys on the 685.

(12 Jan 2022, 10:27 am)streetdeckfan wrote Surely a simple "Due to low passenger numbers, this service will now be operated by single decker vehicles" wouldn't have caused too much trouble.

And saying they're more or less the same spec as Arriva doesn't exactly inspire much confidence in the vehicles on the route!

(12 Jan 2022, 10:24 am)Andreos1 wrote I love the fact people power has apparently forced change on the X10 vehicle allocation.
If there's enough people wanting the Interdecks back...

(12 Jan 2022, 10:34 am)Dan wrote It wouldn't have caused too much trouble, but equally, do people really need confirmation that their service has been downgraded? I don't think so. The X10 vehicle allocation can be argued as a downgrade but a positive spin has been put on this. There's not much of a positive spin going from nearly new E400s to Versas.

The important things (improved service to those that use the 682, a more co-ordinated timetable with the 685) have been highlighted. That's the main thing that people will care about.

(12 Jan 2022, 10:41 am)Dan wrote I notice RNIB had declared this a 'campaign win' last week, before GNE's news story went out today:
https://twitter.com/RNIB_campaigns/status/1479497961688252426

(12 Jan 2022, 8:06 pm)Andreos1 wrote So the RNIB are claiming it as a campaign win and GNE are saying passenger power won? 

Didn't realise either were unhappy to be honest!

(12 Jan 2022, 9:27 pm)Wybus wrote Has the X1 really seen such a reduction in passenger numbers, or is this another case where they need buses elsewhere so have been forced to reduce the frequency. In my experience it’s never what you might call quiet.

(29 Dec 2021, 9:59 am)Dan wrote The X9 and the X85 are all ‘recent’ developments and built upon the existing foundations to deliver growth.

(12 Jan 2022, 10:10 am)streetdeckfan wrote I love how there's absolutely no mention of the huge downgrade in vehicles on the X84, sorry 684

(13 Jan 2022, 8:35 am)Adrian wrote It's all about positive language, isn't it?

On the X9/X10 bit, I wonder if 'high-specification nearly new double-deck buses' are an upgrade or downgrade on 'luxury coaches'?

(13 Jan 2022, 8:35 am)Adrian wrote It's all about positive language, isn't it?

"From 30 January, we will be implementing some service changes to better match service capacity to long-term demand expectations, and continuing our work to adjust schedules in response to new traffic congestion issues." is a lot of waffle for saying "we're cutting some services because no one is using them"

I thought that the long-term demand expectation was 10% growth on the 2019 baseline by March 2024, with a further 10% growth on the 2019 baseline by March 2025? Or at least that is the target in the BSIP, unless something revised is going to be communicated. There's little point of having a target if you're conceding to it before it's even started.

On the X9/X10 bit, I wonder if 'high-specification nearly new double-deck buses' are an upgrade or downgrade on 'luxury coaches'?

(11 Jan 2022, 10:40 pm)peter wrote New timetables now up on the GNE site

-Hexham interworkings aren't immediately obvious - looks like the 680/684/688 will interwork in a roundabout sort of way, as well as the 686/687/689.
-The 55/X20 are now equally spaced from Sunderland, while on the X1 the :19 journeys will extend to Dalton Park and the :49 journeys to Peterlee.
-Looks like the 10/10A/10B will all interwork as opposed to the 10 being standalone
-Overall looks to be nothing that we didn't already know about

(13 Jan 2022, 10:14 am)streetdeckfan wrote Unless they're going to let you have a shit in the bins, I think it's probably a downgrade

(03 Mar 2022, 5:33 pm)Jimmi wrote From Monday 14 March, following customer feedback, we will be making minor changes to the capacity and times of services X85 and 687.

Service 687
Weekday journeys from Hexham at 5.50am, 6.50am and 7.50am will be retimed to run 10 minutes earlier.

Weekday journeys from Newbrough at 6.12am, 7.12am and 8.12am will also be retimed to run 10 minutes earlier.


Service X85
The morning journey on service X85 will be retimed to run around 9 minutes earlier than it does currently, and will additionally serve Hellpool Lane and Whetstone Bridge Road.

These changes allow us to provide a larger vehicle on the X85, following customer requests, as well as making the 7.02am journey from Newbrough the same bus as the X85 for passengers travelling through from Newbrough to Newcastle.