(07 Apr 2013, 7:37 am)Kuyoyo wrote

(07 Apr 2013, 3:37 am)Andreos1 wrote RE X7. I said weeks ago, that if GNE were so determined to make this a success, newer buses would have been used.
As it is, spare vehicles from the fleet have been alocated and despite them being reliable engines, seem to be having problems. Parked up in a layby last week, one screamed past me up the incline from Castle Eden on its way to Peterlee.
If GNE continue using these vehicles, then passengers are not going to build up any loyalty towards the service. Missing Dalton Park was a mistake, using unsuitable vehicles is an even bigger mistake

Okay, explain where newer buses could have come from? Answer - nowhere. It was the B10BLEs or nothing! All other buses are already tied up with a route (and before anyone says the OmniCitys at Percy Main, those are already earmarked for the 19 and the 9). And I will repeat what I said previously, start low to aim high - otherwise the X7 will end up like the X3, up for withdrawal within less than two years after it started!
Also, missing Dalton Park wasn't a mistake. I have been through there on an Arriva 24 before at half 4 in the afternoon once, and there was nobody there waiting for either that nor the 61 that came in behind us and went straight back out again. Go North East chose the quickest route between Peterlee and Sunderland which also allowed them to cut the 202 back to Seaham.
As for the B10BLEs, give them time - it might only be teething troubles that can be easily sorted.

I understand there werent spare vehicles. That was pretty obvious. What Im saying is that if GNE were convinced it would be a success and their planning forecasts identified loading capacity - then newer vehicles would have been used and it would have had a massive launch just like other new routes had in recent years.
The vehicles being used could have gone onto another route with a similar pvr and swapped - even temporarily. Several of the Scanias on the M1 would have been ideal, bearing in mind similar vehicles have covered the X9/X10 and are supposedly being taken off the M1 later this year anyway. A handful of the cascaded Volvos appear on the M1 daily too.

Your 24 and the 61 - where did that come from/go to? I made the point previously that unless you live in Seaham (or anywhere along the Stockton Road corridoor from Sunderland), then getting to Dalton Park (which is soon to be extended to include a cinema etc) from anywhere else on public transport, is very difficult. No wonder buses are dead if every few minutes a Seaham bus trundles in and out.
I dont live that far from Dalton Park (in what is a massive catchment area for the biggest retail park of its type between the Tyne and Tees). Previously it took two buses to get there and one of those was on the 203, which went via the world and Seaham. Now it is 3 buses, which involves a change at Seaham or Hetton. It is the same for those on the X7, to get there, involves a change at Peterlee or Seaham, or like me they just dont bother...

As for the X3 - there hasnt been a bus between Sunderland and Newcastle via Newcastle Road/Boldon that has worked yet.