(15 Dec 2016, 6:01 pm)Andreos1 wrote Comments on the Go-Ahead Group revising forecasts - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/business/business-news/go-ahead-revises-down-revenue-12326833
The last paragraph is of particular interest, where there is mention of its North Eastern bus division.


Previous years have commented on the road network as a reason behind poor performance. I haven't looked at the GAG Shareholder website to see if there are any additional comments or quotes, relating to the North East.

(16 Dec 2016, 6:52 am)C785 OCN wrote Anybody out there know where to get the Indigo East Durham paper timetables from? Tried Durham bus station & the Indigo buses themselves but no luck.

(16 Dec 2016, 12:05 am)Ambassador wrote The piece on the corporate website suggests a decline in passenger numbers in the North East. The awful road network here doesn't help but I personally believe that GNE's changes, awful customer service, inconsistent and unfair prices and some driver attitudes will have people looking at alternatives.

Not forgetting Southern Rail!

(16 Dec 2016, 9:06 am)Andreos1 wrote I cant be the only one who dislikes the hub & spoke model. The shift towards the gradually increasing cross-city type services, would indicate something is changing.

Surveys that are dominated by free bus pass holders, can't be boasted about for ever either.

Changes ahead?

(16 Dec 2016, 9:06 am)Andreos1 wrote I cant be the only one who dislikes the hub & spoke model. The shift towards the gradually increasing cross-city type services, would indicate something is changing.

Surveys that are dominated by free bus pass holders, can't be boasted about for ever either.

Changes ahead?

(16 Dec 2016, 11:55 am)Ambassador wrote I think most people have seen through and begun to resent the hub and spoke 'that'll be a buzz fare sale for us thanks' model.

(16 Dec 2016, 12:17 pm)Dan wrote Chester-le-Street has withdrawn the final Lolyne in the fleet (3872) and also the first Scania L94 in the fleet (4928).

(16 Dec 2016, 12:24 pm)Greg in Weardale wrote I usually find GNE drivers quite good; yes, fares are too high and inconsistent, but it's the constant service changes, usually reductions, that put people off using the bus when they can't rely on the one they need to get to work still running in a couple of months. GNE need to remember that the success of their business depends on them providing a useful, reliable public service, for which they need to establish an integrated network providing good transport links across the area they serve - then leave it alone. We keep getting idiotic changes, look at the new 9 timetable, for example, and the latest X6/7 changes show how they just twiddle things about, usually for the worse, and are more concerned with pointless tit for tat competition with Arriva, rather than providing a stable network on which passengers can depend.

(16 Dec 2016, 12:32 pm)Michael wrote Can't forget the bus war in Sunderland with Stagecoach in North Sunderland, which tbh they lost.

Wouldn't be surprised if launch a new service to Newcastle to compete against Stagecoach's new X24, on almost the same route (maybe serve Heworth and Gateshead interchange though) in the new year.
 

I haven't seen the 9, X6 or X7 since the changes due to work so i can't comment on how they are doing.

(16 Dec 2016, 1:30 pm)Greg in Weardale wrote But the 9 is an illogical and badly conceived timetable with only one through service per hour making it less useful than it was and will therefore put off passengers. Service changes like this over the last few years have put GNE into a spiral of decline which is shown by the poor corporate financial results.

(16 Dec 2016, 2:14 pm)Andreos1 wrote 6143 looking like its at Stanley and being used as a shuttle up the road.

(16 Dec 2016, 12:20 pm)Michael wrote The whole buzzfare zone thing needs re-modeling but that's a post for another day

(16 Dec 2016, 2:31 pm)Jamie M wrote Whatever has been said isn't representative of all divisions, nor does it have to be. Derwentside and it's interconnecting links to itself and nearby cities is a complete monopoly. The amount of fares over 3£ paid is ludicrous. On evenings, on a 6 from say newcastle to stanley and everywhere else in the world, you can expect numbers of about 60 passengers. There are very few concessions around at this time. Most of these people have week tickets (or netone) (around 40£), or three zone buzzfare which is 100£ a month, or single paying (3£) quite a few the full fare (4£90). The fact that the road network is awful makes taking the bus more appropriate for most from this area. There are traffic jams everywhere, most of which the 6 avoids, too.

The buses used on route 6 are buses which just about function. Passengers always complain about them to the drivers. It's not a good experience, but it doesn't have to be. There is no need for comfort, because these people will always take the bus - no matter how uncomfortable and or expensive their trip is.

I have no idea how numbers are elsewhere, but you have to consider both aspects. Passenger loss isn't just down to fequency and quality of the service, especially where there is literally no competition. There are also social impacts, to consider. I spent many long and hard hours studying population shifts, I refuse to go back to explaining it, but the important thing to note is that people can make statistics mean anything they wish to, without considering alternative perspectives. In essence, people go out of their way to draw conclusions about results and make them represent something.

For this reason, I'm not prepared to blame the loss on anything until there is a direct cause, released publically - with actual data to support - which isn't skewed to mean something.

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(16 Dec 2016, 3:24 pm)Andreos1 wrote There's always time for a post about buzzfare boundaries

(16 Dec 2016, 2:38 pm)Jamie M wrote I think S813FVK said it was out on scholars yesterday. I'd guess it will be out in full service in the next day or two.
It's a good one. Very quick and no rattles. This only qualifies as adequate to most depots, but it's like finding a gold mine up Stanley!

The only other ones in service up here - which don't rattle - are the trident plaxtons, they don't see as much service though.

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(16 Dec 2016, 12:17 pm)Dan wrote Chester-le-Street has withdrawn the final Lolyne in the fleet (3872) and also the first Scania L94 in the fleet (4928).

(16 Dec 2016, 3:24 pm)Andreos1 wrote There's always time for a post about buzzfare boundaries


But the factors mentioned already and the factors mentioned previously will all come in to play at some point.

Say we discuss social factors, such as employment.
Compared to 25-30 years ago, this has changed massively across Derwentside. 
The huge employers (such as British Steel at Consett or Ever Ready at Tanfield) have long gone and apart from smaller industrial estates that are reliant on SME's, vast swathes of brownfield land has been covered in housing estates - whose residents don't (and can't) all work in the Derwentside areas.

On Tyneside, manufacturing has been replaced by service sector industries and I will bet my last quid in Fozzes Bookies that a decent proportion of those employed, will be living in Derwentside. 

In theory, demand for public transport on the Derwentside -> Tyneside corridor should be increasing and to levels beyond those seen when people lived and worked in their home towns.
Maybe it is?
The constant service and route consolidation along with the more or less guaranteed allocation of older vehicles to depots like Stanley over the last 30+ years (certainly as long as I can remember), would say that something isn't right somewhere.

(16 Dec 2016, 4:01 pm)EL1TE wrote That was quick.. Any replacement?

(16 Dec 2016, 4:45 pm)Michael wrote According to the news post, it has occurred uneconomical defects.


"Having incurred defects uneconomical to repair; this vehicle has been withdrawn from service at Chester-le-Street Depot, becoming the first of its type to be withdrawn".

(16 Dec 2016, 6:52 am)C785 OCN wrote Anybody out there know where to get the Indigo East Durham paper timetables from? Tried Durham bus station & the Indigo buses themselves but no luck.

(16 Dec 2016, 6:01 pm)BusLoverMum wrote I'll let you know if I spot any.