(12 Mar 2015, 8:07 pm)MrPottski wrote The Willow Road junction isn't that bad on a Sunday, but Monday to Saturday it can be a nightmare, even in a Solo or MPD. Pease Way surgery is daft, so many cars and vans park on the bus stop, it needs it's own traffic warden! As regards the upcoming Darlington changes, I can't find the post which has them in detail, can anyone assist? Many thanks in advance

(13 Mar 2015, 9:29 am)tyresmoke wrote Maybe it would be better to stick a load of extra time in the 1700 one so it runs around 1710-1715 (like in reality!) and run the extra at 1700. Of course you would then have the issue of overloading a Pulsar at that time.

(13 Mar 2015, 10:51 am)ross13 wrote I think the darlington consultation is still on the arriva website and from what I read a final decision will be announced in april sometime, I Still think that the 1 should be extended to lingfield point at peak times as there is a few people i know who work up there and live in shildon and they are not happy about losing the service

(13 Mar 2015, 11:15 am)Jimmi wrote I can't access the page because I have already filled it in but I think it may be closed now, if they are going ahead with changes I expect they will be planning them now to send off to VOSA as the planned date for changes is May 17th and need to give 48 days notice before changes come into affect.

The issue is no-one was using the service between Darlington Town Centre and Darlington College during the daytime. Also the 19 can't interwork with the 3 if the changes go ahead because it is planned to merge the 3 with the 14 to Skerne Park.

People living on the 1 route who use the service to get to Lingfield Point haven't been the only casualties of Arriva cuts losing their direct service it was the same for New College students who lost the 7 running direct to Framwellgate Moor, although there is 3 journeys to Fram on a morning and 3 return journeys on an evening, the evening journeys are too late in my opinion. Let's also not forget that the 1 used to run to Lingfield Point half hourly throughout the daytime too.

I can see Arriva going ahead with all the changes on their survey and any other changes they have planned.

(13 Mar 2015, 11:19 am)tyresmoke wrote I think the resources can be better used elsewhere for example allowing timing changes on the 1 and the 5/5A where it is needed. I would imagine the number of people travelling to Darlington college can be easily accommodated on service 9/10 which go up that way every 5 minutes already.

(13 Mar 2015, 12:20 pm)tyresmoke wrote 1902 is now withdrawn at Stockton. Likely that one of the other two due to come off (1903/4) will see a reprieve thanks to the extra work we have picked up

(13 Mar 2015, 1:19 pm)Cock Robin wrote Are 1753 and 4039 off now? 1914's back end is a mess!

(14 Mar 2015, 7:59 am)mb134 wrote Following on from a discussion in the GNE thread, will there be any chance of Arriva making some of the non-DDA complaint vehicles compliant rather than buying new vehicles to replace all of them?

(14 Mar 2015, 9:18 am)Dan wrote That moment when it takes a driver to get from Sunderland to Easington Village (about 28 minutes in) to realise that the destination was still showing "Not In Service"... Let's hope nobody was waiting to go to Hartlepool this morning or they'll be waiting half an hour!

These Streetlites are still awful, too... Been thrown around so much on this bus.

(14 Mar 2015, 11:41 am)Tommy_1581 wrote The drivers at AN still haven't been trained on them.

The supervisor told me that a Plaxton Pointer (the long version) is going to be transferred to AN, to displace a StreetLite for training.

(14 Mar 2015, 4:32 pm)mb134 wrote Something I noticed, and noted on here, a few months ago, that I noticed again today:
7524 is still the only 14-reg E400 displaying a full rear destination, makes it easy to identify from our point of view, but very unhelpful for the public.

(14 Mar 2015, 6:03 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote It's getting beyond a joke now.

Only four months that the Sapphire E400s have actually had a working full rear desty. August to November.

-- Here's another Sapphire rant --

Why can't Arriva follow in GNE's footsteps and have NSA's and power sockets in all new buses. They shouldn't have to be a special feature to boast about. 

(14 Mar 2015, 6:07 pm)mb134 wrote Thought it was earlier than November? 

Even so, Sundays have a far reduced vehicle requirement, why don't they use the 57-reg ones and get all of the 14-reg ones sorted out. I've noticed that on a number the next stop announcement display is shifted slightly to the right, so not everything is on the screen. Also, 7501 hasn't had NSA's working for several weeks to months. 

The power sockets are also extremely iffy on all of the vehicles I've used them on, with an inconsistent supply, cutting out every couple of seconds. 

(14 Mar 2015, 6:18 pm)citaro5284 wrote If the power sockets are not working on a GNE vehicle, by all means report it to Customer Services and we will get them looked at.

(14 Mar 2015, 6:03 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote Why can't Arriva follow in GNE's footsteps and have NSA's and power sockets in all new buses. They shouldn't have to be a special feature to boast about. 

(14 Mar 2015, 6:07 pm)mb134 wrote Thought it was earlier than November? 

Even so, Sundays have a far reduced vehicle requirement, why don't they use the 57-reg ones and get all of the 14-reg ones sorted out. I've noticed that on a number the next stop announcement display is shifted slightly to the right, so not everything is on the screen. Also, 7501 hasn't had NSA's working for several weeks to months. 

The power sockets are also extremely iffy on all of the vehicles I've used them on, with an inconsistent supply, cutting out every couple of seconds. 

(14 Mar 2015, 6:23 pm)mb134 wrote I wish they were GNE vehicles, at least then I'd know something would be done!

Hardly use GNE services, as I only live remotely near one (the 19), but even then I'd need to get an Arriva bus first. 

Hope GNE try to come back into Northumberland... Arriva are far too relaxed, resulting in a below average service standard (no matter how much Sparkle, or MAXimum impact they introduce...) 

(14 Mar 2015, 6:53 pm)Dan wrote I think that all of the issues that said batch of vehicles are facing relate to the Next Stop Announcements. The profiles are set incorrectly which is causing a number of issues, including those that have been mentioned above and destination displays "flashing" (ie sometimes going blank for a second or two randomly before showing normally again). Go North East had similar issues with their "Venture" branded Solo SRs when they first entered service, but the issues were promptly fixed.

Have you tried raising all of this with Customer Services? It's possible that Arriva isn't actually aware. It depends on what sort of quality checks are in place...

(14 Mar 2015, 7:16 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote If the Crusader was ever to get an upgrade, the Mercs after a deep clean, NSAs and Moovbox fitted would be perfect for a similar setup to the old X31 / X32 services both running every 30 Mon to Sat and 60 eve and Sun with buses only calling at the Regent Centre between Hartford Road and Newcastle. Arriva wouldn't be too angry though as they'd still have the Guide Post / Wansbeck patch fully covered only by Arriva with the X22 operating that way.

(14 Mar 2015, 7:20 pm)mb134 wrote I've gave up with Arriva customer service to be honest, even if I did raise it I'm nearly 100% sure that I'd get a "we'll pass your comments on to the depot manager" and see nothing done about it. They don't care at all, and I can't wait until I can learn to drive so that I don't have to get their late, cold and disappointing buses every morning. 

The management of Ashington must be the worst (except maybe Redcar, although it seems that they've improved), the allocation is shocking, the drivers clearly don't care about being on time, and the presentation of the vehicles is terrible. Now I know there will be exceptions, some drivers seem to do everything to ensure they're on time for example. So even if customer services do pass on my comments, I highly doubt Ashington will do anything to rectify it, as it seems they just don't care. 

(14 Mar 2015, 7:50 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote I told the (moustache) supervisor at AN that 7501's NSAs and wifi didn't work. He didn't give a toss.

"As long as the brakes and engine are fine, it's a minor problem". I'm not going to pay £7.00 for a DaySaver if this is how they handle a problem with a service that is supposed to "sparkle".

(14 Mar 2015, 7:53 pm)mb134 wrote Exactly.

Think the tyres and heating should be just as important as the brakes and engine like  having said that, Arriva promise "WiFi ", they don't actually promise a working engine