(05 Apr 2015, 7:12 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote From what I'm looking at, there are only 2 red Streetlites displayed in the photos. There is a Borismaster; two red Streetlites; then two green Streetlites.

Thanks Marc,

I agree, looks like the first of the Red Kite streetlites are to arrive.

Rest of the Limes should arrive this week to, will any get delivered tomorrow with it being bank holiday?

(05 Apr 2015, 7:26 pm)Michael wrote Thanks Marc,

I agree, looks like the first of the Red Kite streetlites are to arrive.

Rest of the Limes should arrive this week to, will any get delivered tomorrow with it being bank holiday?

Doubt they will be in action on a bank holiday

(05 Apr 2015, 7:28 pm)Robert wrote Doubt they will be in action on a bank holiday

Thought so, wasn't sure if they still collected buses on bank holidays.

I have an email stating there was another red Streetlite in Heysham making it 3 in total but the third was unphotoable.

(05 Apr 2015, 7:24 pm)Robert wrote over 20 buses per day though? a lot of timetable changes would still need to be made and i see no logic in transferring at all.

Of which if we are referring to the Diamond and Red Kite Services, all run past Riverside Depot anyway. Sticking with the Diamond, from looking at the Timetable the 0641/0711 and 0736 all start at Burnopfield Post Office heading towards Durham which would be a 10-15 Minutes Light Run from Riverside.

Either way you look at it if Stanley Depot was to close to either merge with Washington/Chester at a New Depot or with Riverside, then all Services are going to have to incur some Light Mileage to get to where the Service is to Start/Finish, I just think the Majority of Stanleys Services would be better off Transferring to Riverside if it was to happen in the future.

(05 Apr 2015, 7:52 pm)citaro5284 wrote Must have been from Malcolm Jones eh....

You got me! It was from MJ.

Have the new Streetlites entered service yet for X66?

GNE should of extended the 8 to serve Beamish main entrance during the day with the 78A doing that on Sundays.

Might get a few more people using it to Chester Le Street or Stanley etc.

(05 Apr 2015, 7:55 pm)Markey wrote Of which if we are referring to the Diamond and Red Kite Services, all run past Riverside Depot anyway. Sticking with the Diamond, from looking at the Timetable the 0641/0711 and 0736 all start at Burnopfield Post Office heading towards Durham which would be a 10-15 Minutes Light Run from Riverside.

Either way you look at it if Stanley Depot was to close to either merge with Washington/Chester at a New Depot or with Riverside, then all Services are going to have to incur some Light Mileage to get to where the Service is to Start/Finish, I just think the Majority of Stanleys Services would be better off Transferring to Riverside if it was to happen in the future.

Riverside already have services going a few miles light to commence operations. The 27 has some light runs to and from south shields and also now with saltmeadows services relocated they also have the 5 light to either Shields or Jarrow as well. Also Washington have light runs also to shields and hebburn with the 88/88A

(06 Apr 2015, 2:31 pm)ifm001 wrote Riverside already have services going a few miles light to commence operations. The 27 has some light runs to and from south shields and also now with saltmeadows services relocated they also have the 5 light to either Shields or Jarrow as well. Also Washington have light runs also to shields and hebburn with the 88/88A

Exactly each depot will each have Light Runs which have an excessive Mileage, I for one really dont see an issue with moving some of the Stanley Operations to Riverside in the future.

(06 Apr 2015, 4:57 pm)Malarkey wrote Exactly each depot will each have Light Runs which have an excessive Mileage, I for one really dont see an issue with moving some of the Stanley Operations to Riverside in the future.

Most (if not all) of the journeys will start/finish in Consett or Stanley though as most people will be travelling in to Newcastle on a morning, and not many people will be travelling out of Newcastle on a morning? The other way round on a evening. That is a hell of a lot of dead mileage.

(06 Apr 2015, 4:57 pm)Malarkey wrote Exactly each depot will each have Light Runs which have an excessive Mileage, I for one really dont see an issue with moving some of the Stanley Operations to Riverside in the future.

I know this isn't GNE, but as an example of this, I'm sure Arriva have to send up a bus light to either Belford or Berwick on a morning to start it's duty.

(05 Apr 2015, 11:48 am)citaro5284 wrote When South Shields closed, most of the routes went to Deptford about from the 527 which went to Sunderland Road.

Deptford was created by closing Park Lane and Philly.

Some of the Philly work went to Washington too.

(05 Apr 2015, 2:55 pm)Michael wrote Not sure on Percy main, how old is the current depot?

Found this
Reference to a depot at Percy Main, back in the 1930's.
http://www.old-bus-photos.co.uk/wp-conte...rt_one.php

(06 Apr 2015, 5:09 pm)mb134 wrote I know this isn't GNE, but as an example of this, I'm sure Arriva have to send up a bus light to either Belford or Berwick on a morning to start it's duty.

Isn't that from Rothbury Motors' depot though?

(06 Apr 2015, 5:40 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote Isn't that from Rothbury Motors' depot though?

It's still 16 miles from there to Belford, or 30 to Berwick. 

I passed 7516 running light towards Alnwick yesterday, so I'm assuming a run finishes in Belford at the end of the day as well on a Sunday at least (17.12 from Alnwick)

Hi, changing the subject back to driver recruitment for a moment.
Ive always been interested in Trains and Buses, and always had a fancy for driving them for a living.
Well seeing GNE recent recruitment campaign got me thinking again, i have the right qualities, full clean licence, always had a customer service job role including management. enjoy talking to people and enjoy driving. 

What id like to know.... is what are current hourly rates of pay with GNE, how many hours a week do you work, and are you forced to work overtime? 

Are any of you already a driver for GNE that can share some experience of the company and job.
What are shift patterns like,  if you work somewhere like Hexham, would the shift patterns be better, ie not as many late nights, more weekends off etc.
How many weekends are you expected to work, how many days off do you get each week.

Any info would be great, i dont want to start speaking with GNE recruitment justvyet, id ratger get a bit of info first.

Look forward to your comments.
Cheers.

(06 Apr 2015, 5:07 pm)Tom wrote Most (if not all) of the journeys will start/finish in Consett or Stanley though as most people will be travelling in to Newcastle on a morning, and not many people will be travelling out of Newcastle on a morning? The other way round on a evening. That is a hell of a lot of dead mileage.

Lets take a look at it then on a Monday to Friday Basis for just 1 Day on the Red Kite/Diamond Services, all results are from Depot to the Start Point of Service typed into Google and Time taken to go from A to B along with Mileage, Mileage will then be Multiplied by the Number of Journeys starting at each Start Point.

45/46
Stanley Depot to Consett - 14 Minutes - 7.7 Miles x 7 = 53.9 Miles
Stanley Depot to Shotley Bridge - 18 Minutes - 9.4 Miles x 1 = 9.4 Miles
Stanley Depot to Rowlands Gill - 12 Minutes - 5.3 Miles x 1 = 5.3 Miles

Riverside to Consett - 28 Minutes - 12.2 Miles x 7 = 85.4 Miles
Riverside to Shotley Bridge - 26 Minutes - 11.9 Miles x 1 = 11.9 Miles
Riverside to Rowlands Gill - 12 Minutes - 5.1 Miles x 1 - 5.1 Miles


43/44/44A
Riverside to Stanley - 22 Minutes - 9.2 Miles x 6 = 55.2 Miles
Riverside to Burnopfield - 17 Minutes - 6.8 Miles x 3 = 20.4 Miles
Riverside to Flint Hill - 19 Minutes - 7.6 Miles x 3 = 22.8 Miles

Stanley Depot to Stanley Bus Station - 1 Minute - 0.6 Miles x 6 = 3.6 Miles
Stanley Depot to Burnopfield - 10 Minutes - 4.0 Miles x 3 = 12 Miles
Stanley Depot to Flint Hill - 6 Minutes - 2.8 Miles x 3 = 9.2 Miles


Again either way as I have said previously, Dead Mileage will rise depending on whether the Services move to Riverside or are Merged with Chester le Street at a New Depot in the future, certainly think they would be better off moving to Riverside if that was to happen depending on Location of a New Depot of course. 

I personally think it's not feasible to merge Stanley with Riverside. Where would the venture network go for a start?! Those services are majority local town routes and those been run from Gateshead wouldn't be ideal.
Tom has already pointed out that morning journeys its people travelling into the city centres (like any route) where that by majority of morning passengers are from Consett going into Newcastle. 
GNE are the principal bus operator in the Stanley area, not having any sort of depot there would not be very good at all.
It also means if there were a breakdown it would be hard to replace vehicles. With having Stanley depot, it means that breakdowns that side of the route it's easier to replace vehicles for the next run and if there was a breakdown at MetroCentre, hopefully Riverside could a replacement temporarily. A system which I'd like to hope works across the network. I've heard instances when a WTX renown was out on the X9 after a breakdown in Peterlee- which is good practice.
Losing Stanley would mean that there could be a drop in service to passengers from that area.

Anyone got any pics of the old 527 use to love that service when i was a kid lol

(06 Apr 2015, 8:55 pm)gneasy91 wrote Anyone got any pics of the old 527 use to love that service when i was a kid lol

Renown 4906 at Heworth: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/stagecoach...39730@N02/ (Photo owned by Carlisle Bus Group)

There's many more, just type your search into Flickr.

(06 Apr 2015, 9:01 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Renown 4906 at Heworth: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/stagecoach...39730@N02/ (Photo owned by Carlisle Bus Group)

"As she wheeled her wheelbarrow, from South Shields to Jarrow, crying "Cockles and Mussels, Alive Alive O."

Thank u shud bring that route bk liked it when it went over the bridge and that

(06 Apr 2015, 6:18 pm)thetravelman wrote What id like to know.... is what are current hourly rates of pay with GNE, how many hours a week do you work, and are you forced to work overtime? 

They used to list the hourly rates on the website, but I can't seem to find them now. It tends to work on a scale though I think?

You'd be best off getting yourself along to the next recruitment day, which is at the Stadium of Light. The last one was a success from what people have said.

(06 Apr 2015, 10:57 pm)aureolin wrote They used to list the hourly rates on the website, but I can't seem to find them now. It tends to work on a scale though I think?

You'd be best off getting yourself along to the next recruitment day, which is at the Stadium of Light. The last one was a success from what people have said.

The pay rate for Washington depot was always a bit higher than with the other depots, I recall?

(06 Apr 2015, 10:57 pm)aureolin wrote They used to list the hourly rates on the website, but I can't seem to find them now. It tends to work on a scale though I think?

You'd be best off getting yourself along to the next recruitment day, which is at the Stadium of Light. The last one was a success from what people have said.

(06 Apr 2015, 11:10 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote The pay rate for Washington depot was always a bit higher than with the other depots, I recall?

It was the training pay rates given on the website previously - the scaled rates for years of service weren't ever given on the website. Washington was, and still is, at a higher rate of pay than other depots. Several trainees asked the question at the start of last month when I was there, and the reasoning behind it was explained, but I honestly can't remember now.

Details about the scaled rates of pay for years of service to the company should be explained at the recruitment events, so it is worth popping along. If you would like to know beforehand, it may be worth dropping Customer Services an e-mail and they may tell you. The hours will differ depending on which shift you are allocated, and there are opportunities available for overtime. Again, this would be explained in greater detail at a recruitment event.

Latest photo's/info from Versa5389, which was posted yesterday said there was 3 red streetlites and 2 green streetlites at Heysham Docks... due to having 5 at the docks will all 5 arrive together or will only a couple arrive at a time?

I'm not sure how new deliveries work, Do GNE send drivers down?

-----------------------
GNE have updated the current Lime information on its tab to show its new Streetlites and brand - http://www.simplygo.com/all-services/lime

---------------------------
Also 2 more dates have being announced for GNE's recruitment drive in Sunderland during May - http://www.simplygo.com/news/driver-recr...nd-10-may/

(02 Apr 2015, 1:45 pm)aureolin wrote 5403 and 5408 have both arrived today.

Streetlite 5395 (NK15 ENF) also arrived last Thursday.

(07 Apr 2015, 9:46 am)Michael wrote Latest photo's/info from Versa5389, which was posted yesterday said there was 3 red streetlites and 2 green streetlites at Heysham Docks... due to having 5 at the docks will all 5 arrive together or will only a couple arrive at a time?

I'm not sure how new deliveries work, Do GNE send drivers down?

New vehicles are usually delivered in batches of two or three, depending on how many drivers are available. I'm not entirely sure which party delivers the new vehicles (whether it's Wrightbus drivers, drivers who work at Heysham Docks, or another party), but it definitely isn't Go North East drivers.

(07 Apr 2015, 11:46 am)Dan wrote Streetlite 5395 (NK15 ENF) also arrived last Thursday.


New vehicles are usually delivered in batches of two or three, depending on how many drivers are available. I'm not entirely sure which party delivers the new vehicles (whether it's Wrightbus drivers, drivers who work at Heysham Docks, or another party), but it definitely isn't Go North East drivers.

Thanks Dan, has any of the latest streetlites arrived from Heysham docks?

(07 Apr 2015, 11:46 am)Dan wrote New vehicles are usually delivered in batches of two or three, depending on how many drivers are available. I'm not entirely sure which party delivers the new vehicles (whether it's Wrightbus drivers, drivers who work at Heysham Docks, or another party), but it definitely isn't Go North East drivers.

I recall seeing an earlier batch of deliveries using trade licence plates from Northern Ireland - suggesting that Wrightbus were delivering them.

That would allow Wrightbus to monitor the performance of the vehicles on the long run to the customer, rather than receiving 'complaints' from the bus company after delivery.

(07 Apr 2015, 12:05 pm)G-CPTN wrote I recall seeing an earlier batch of deliveries using trade licence plates from Northern Ireland - suggesting that Wrightbus were delivering them.

That would allow Wrightbus to monitor the performance of the vehicles on the long run to the customer, rather than receiving 'complaints' from the bus company after delivery.

Good point, i think your right =D