(19 Apr 2021, 6:42 pm)mb134 wrote That's a novel way of running a bus service you've got there like.

It's a *registered* bus service, therefore should run to a timetable and route just as any other does.

You can forgive the driver, though - he probably thought he was doing right by the passengers on-board, asking them where they were alighting and missing out sections of the route to get them home quicker, not realising that this technically isn't permitted on a registered bus service, as it isn't actually a 'coach trip' despite it having many similarities. Given the very nature of the service, its ticketing arrangements etc, you will almost definitely see the service carry the exact same passengers in both directions, so the confusion is understandable.

It has already been pointed out that the service waited its time at Peterlee - clearly someone intervened at this point and advised the driver of the correct procedure. Isn't it commendable Go North East has a central control room which monitors bus services to ensure something like this doesn't happen - even other larger operators, such as Arriva, cannot boast about that.

Not sure the comparison to Gateshead Central Taxis was fair. It was the first weekend of operation, and there was bound to be some minor teething issues, no matter how much training happened prior to the launch date. The same driver will be doing this run every weekend until the service goes daily (at which point three drivers will be required to operate the service). As I say, I'd be very surprised to see a repeat of the issues from the weekend gone again this weekend. I'm sure Gateshead Central Taxis had similar teething issues on their first day of operation of the SNS service yesterday, but far fewer people will know because they don't have tracking information available online for us enthusiasts to go over with a fine tooth comb. Not relevant to this thread, but on that note: they seemed to be operating the 20-minute frequency service requiring three buses with two buses which actually ran in tandem yesterday afternoon, so a 60-minute frequency instead of 20. I'd argue the impacts of that are far greater than a bit of naivety and confusion.