(09 Sep 2013, 4:38 pm)gtomlinson wrote I don't want to go off topic but legally GNE are not doing anything wrong in terms of the law by not providing a wi-fi bus

Under the Conditions of Carriage you simply agree to pay a free for carriage on the bus. You are not guaranteed a seat nor a leather headrest, wifi, next stop announcements nor the right coloured bus. You are entitled to a vehicle that gets you from A to B and no more, no less.

I'd imagine the users of the early Sunday morning service already used the previous service to arrive into town and wouldn't expect wi-fi et al anyway, besides the point.

If every single bus was operated without wi-fi and that was a key selling point and in the terms and conditions of carriage then yes there's a point, otherwise its simple armchair law at the end of the day (no offence!)

(09 Sep 2013, 4:47 pm)Michael wrote Fleet News:

Two further vehicle transfers from last weekend are of Trident 3859: W859 PNL from Chester le Street to Percy Main and Volvo B10BLE 4905: W905 RBB from Chester le Street to Stanley.

MPD 560: NK53 TKZ has been transferred from Hexham to Consett and 561: NK53 TLF from Hexham to Deptford.

MPDs 506, 512 and 513 (X-WRG) are officially withdrawn but may remain in service temporarily.

Don't know where to put it.. since everything has changed...

(09 Sep 2013, 4:18 pm)Adam Malarkey wrote Disgraceful and to think I probably sat in that seat he'd been sitting in today on the 2C, hope they catch him.

(09 Sep 2013, 4:53 pm)Andreos1 wrote Looking at him and referring to previous discussions on the subject, I wonder if he can be traced using a pass? Presuming he has an OAP pass due to his apparent age.

(09 Sep 2013, 4:57 pm)Adam Malarkey wrote If GNE have a timing for when he got on/off the Bus, I think it maybe possible, but would GNE not have to go through the Ticket History for a Certain Bus Driver who was driving at the time.

(09 Sep 2013, 4:57 pm)Adam Malarkey wrote If GNE have a timing for when he got on/off the Bus, I think it maybe possible, but would GNE not have to go through the Ticket History for a Certain Bus Driver who was driving at the time.

(09 Sep 2013, 12:47 pm)AdamY wrote I agree. 99% of bus users probably do just want the bus to turn up (on time) and are happy when it does. But if this is the case, why go all gimmickry with branding featuring promises of WiFi enabled buses? Once you start advertising services promising some sort of competitive advantage over other similar services, then these promises should really be kept as some may choose these services based upon what's being offered. Unless there's a valid reason due to vehicles being off the road, GNE should strive to deliver their end of the bargain. If they don't, then it's tantamount to false advertising which become legally ambiguous.

(09 Sep 2013, 5:31 pm)Greg in Weardale wrote Top priority must always be to ensure a bus turns up on time. Ideally it'll be the correct type, but however hard companies try, they'll never manage this all the time. Having been a Controller (Service Delivery Manager, Duty Manager or whatever the title may be) for both buses and trains it's rare for a day to go by without events, often outside anyone's control, conspiring to cause disruption. Priority is always to run something as near on time as possible - you don't care what as long as something runs and passengers aren't left waiting (and in the case of contracted services and on the railways you get financial penalties). I fully support Northern's branding but it's totally unreasonable to expect that only the branded buses will run on their routes. Ideally, however they should be able to ensure that only correctly branded vehicles should be used, with red Northern ones covering branded vehicles on maintenance or breakdowns.

(09 Sep 2013, 4:42 pm)Daniel wrote The percentage of passengers that don't care about additional features such as Wi-Fi and power sockets for mobile phones/laptops is not relevant in my opinion - it is the percentage that do care.

The consultation results Aureolin provided a link to proves that customers do care about having these additional features. A total of 260 completed questionnaires were returned to Go North East. 54% of those customers were in favour of the new "Tyne Tees Xpress" vehicles to have free Wi-Fi, which is 140 people - but apparently only 1% care about having these features? A further 32% were in favour of adding power sockets to the new buses. Again, a massive difference between the official number and the earlier number given (although it was likely to be under-exaggerated anyway, providing that is a word?)

(08 Sep 2013, 8:55 pm)Daniel wrote The headcount was at St James - on the 11:25am X84 service from Hexham to Newcastle.
10 people stayed on until Eldon Sq, and 2 alighted at St James' Park.

(09 Sep 2013, 8:18 pm)the pilot wrote 12:25 you mean? There wasn't an 11:25 I'm sure. Now we have a problem as to how five people magically appear. Unless you couldn't see the two children on the other side to what I was sitting on but that only accounts for two. I counted everyone including myself as we got off at Eldon Sq. I'm quite sure it was you who papped me at St. James'.

(10 Sep 2013, 9:03 am)Andreos1 wrote Going back to the discussion about the X84/85; Ken Kennedy has been on fb and asked GNE if there were problems with the wifi on Sunday for his journey between Throckley and Newcastle.

Fyacebuk asked if passengers on a Sunday would receive yellow goodies such as bananas, lemons and yellow pop.
It seems GNE have removed the comment...

(10 Sep 2013, 9:06 am)aureolin wrote It looks like customer services don't know about the allocations, judging by the response that they'll look into it. Surely if they knew it was an MPD allocated on a Sunday, they'd just respond stating the vehicle doesn't have Wi-Fi.

(10 Sep 2013, 9:12 am)Andreos1 wrote Or, they do know and don't want to admit it on the forum.'

I wonder what srivva think of it?

(10 Sep 2013, 2:03 pm)cbma06 wrote I was driving the car this morning with the radio on, and there mentioned about the Tynedale Express and there said this Friday 13th September if you wear something yellow then you be able to board the X84/X85 for free.

I only heard it once but I was mostly watching out on the road than listening to the radio when it came on, and only half heard it once.

(10 Sep 2013, 3:42 pm)eezypeazy wrote Orange, surely?

(10 Sep 2013, 7:22 pm)citaro5284 wrote They have not been changed, they are suppose to change based on ambient light conditions as they have an in built sensor. There maybe an issue with the sensor on the vehicle and you can also take out a dimmer switch on the circuit board to make them brighter, but normally we do not remove this switch.

(10 Sep 2013, 7:27 pm)Andreos1 wrote Whatever was up with it, everything was clear, sharp and bright.
Looked great!

(10 Sep 2013, 7:40 pm)Daniel wrote I've always quite liked 8289's destination blind at night. Appears a lot better than others, esp. in photographs (see here).

Another favourite of mine is 8226. So bright!
Guyparkroyal captures it quite nicely on this photo.

(10 Sep 2013, 9:12 am)Andreos1 wrote Or, they do know and don't want to admit it on the forum.

I wonder what srivva think of it?

Mackem Danny Ftm Sunderland
The first bus from Stanley to druham broken down in Craghead
Like · · 55 minutes ago via Mobile

(11 Sep 2013, 7:34 pm)BFK wrote The reason 8226 is so bright is that the vehicle was in a front end accident a few weeks ago and has had a replacement front end put on including new destination.