(19 Apr 2016, 5:14 am)Dan wrote Yes, and this causes the most problems in terms of the tailbacks which Lee is complaining about, as some drivers refuse to go on any stand but their allocated one, and any buses behind that one are left to sit and wait. As Arriva almost have the monopoly on the bus station, they are the ones that cause the biggest issue in Durham Bus Station. Not Go North East. Of course, if the bus station was properly supervised, drivers could be told to use the allocated layover bays, but...
It's quite interesting that Arriva are having so many issues, yet Go North East isn't (at least to my knowledge?) I was on the real-time information system yesterday at various points in the day, and I found at 12:00 that only one bus out of the PVR of 20 was outside of the 'on time' boundary, and at 15:00 two were. Things worsened at peak times, but that's normal Durham. Perhaps the roadworks in Durham aren't as bad as is being made out, and it's simply because there isn't enough recovery time in Arriva's timetables to accommodate minor delays like these?
Just seems odd to me that it can affect one operator and not the other!
Many delays were caused due to the Nat Ex coach breaking down on the roundabout also, but there were large tailbacks beyond Gilesgate Roundabout.
I would also like to argue that GNE cause a large amount of problems, probably equal to the amount that ANE cause, due to their refusal to use the back wall. And also the blocking of the exit to DBS with many 20 drivers creating an imaginary stand 'M' due to the fact there is already another 20/20A on the stand.
There have also been times where GNE buses have sat waiting for their own stand to free up, despite the fact another bus is loading up before pulling onto an alternative stand because they will apparently get bollocked for pulling on to another stand.
It swings both ways...