(09 Aug 2020, 12:44 pm)Malarkey wrote I was out and about yesterday afternoon around South Shields and I think they could benefit from some additional capacity whether that be from using double deckers or frequency increases as I got an 11 from Biddick Hall to Shields after getting off an X34 on Galsworthy Road, the E200 in question was packed with no social distancing enforced with 22 passengers on board with the driver picking up/dropping off at every stop in between until after we reached Marsden which he then enforced "Bus Full" and ran non stop into Shields dropping off only, in the stops we passed after Marsden I did a rough head count of roughly 10 people per stop and seen similar loadings while observing on Station Road while getting a few photos.
Has anyone had similar experiences or seen anything similar across Newcastle and Sunderland operations?
35188, 39702/05-08/21 are all still SORNed / not used according to Bus Times. Maybe they should be brought back into use and used as duplicate buses when services get very busy?
ADL E300s 27724 & 27725 don't appear to be getting used at Walkergate and there are also still quite a few full size single deckers out of use at both Stockton and Slatyford, as normal pre-lockdown service has not resumed yet.