I wonder how much the fare discrepancy has to do with things? £3.80 all day on Stagecoach, but £6.20 on GNE? They're also over £1 cheaper for under 18s.

No idea how much a return is from say Boldon to Newcastle via GNE, but I'd be surprised if it's cheaper than £3.80.

Perhaps some Bargain Bus style competition is called for?

(05 Jan 2015, 1:26 pm)aureolin wrote I wonder how much the fare discrepancy has to do with things? £3.80 all day on Stagecoach, but £6.20 on GNE? They're also over £1 cheaper for under 18s.

No idea how much a return is from say Boldon to Newcastle via GNE, but I'd be surprised if it's cheaper than £3.80.

Perhaps some Bargain Bus style competition is called for?

I find it difficult to compare the price of day, weekly and annual tickets between operators due to the totally different ways their services operate.

Stagecoach operates very few services to allow you to travel between different cities. If I wanted to travel between Sunderland and Newcastle, I'd have to get the E2 from my house to Marsden followed by the hourly X34 to Newcastle, with journey time (including connections) being longer than it would have been for me by using the 56 or X36 direct to Newcastle from the Stadium of Light.

I gave this as an example previously, when one of my friends (who lives in Monkwearmouth) was deciding which ticket to buy following the expiry of her POP card.

Similarly, there are no services which get you from Teesside to Tyne and Wear. Go North East doesn't even have a depot in Teesside yet provides three buses per hour from Tyne and Wear to Teesside!

Arriva's prices are higher than Stagecoach's too, presumably for the same reason as Go North East... You can go so much further with greater ease.

(05 Jan 2015, 1:26 pm)aureolin wrote I wonder how much the fare discrepancy has to do with things? £3.80 all day on Stagecoach, but £6.20 on GNE? They're also over £1 cheaper for under 18s.

No idea how much a return is from say Boldon to Newcastle via GNE, but I'd be surprised if it's cheaper than £3.80.

Perhaps some Bargain Bus style competition is called for?

That's a good point.

Anyone in Boldon has the choice of operators, with some being conc pass holders (who aren't fussy) and those who do pay, possibly preferring to pay for the cheaper X34.
It would make sense to use the X34 and 100 if going to the Metrocentre too, rather than change at Gateshead

Interesting to see the X36 move to Market Street - not far at all from the X34 stop.
Maybe they are looking to pick up a few punters off Stagecoach?

Whether this is a common pattern I don't know, but I have noticed that on the very rare occasions I am in Boldon or on the 9/X36 - passengers seem to prefer the quicker 9 between Sunderland and Boldon.

(05 Jan 2015, 2:03 pm)Andreos1 wrote That's a good point.

Anyone in Boldon has the choice of operators, with some being conc pass holders (who aren't fussy) and those who do pay, possibly preferring to pay for the cheaper X34.
It would make sense to use the X34 and 100 if going to the Metrocentre too, rather than change at Gateshead

Interesting to see the X36 move to Market Street - not far at all from the X34 stop.
Maybe they are looking to pick up a few punters off Stagecoach?

Whether this is a common pattern I don't know, but I have noticed that on the very rare occasions I am in Boldon or on the 9/X36 - passengers seem to prefer the quicker 9 between Sunderland and Boldon.

As someone who uses the 9 and X36 frequently to travel between Monkwearmouth and Boldon, I do not think that there is a pattern.

To Sunderland, the difference is 5 minutes or less in journey time, meaning most customers do not care and simply opt for the first bus which comes. Obviously, those who live on the route of either and aren't travelling all the way back to Park Lane do have a preference in the route that they select...

Newcastle Road is closer to my house than the Stadium, so when travelling to Boldon, I tend to use the more frequent 9. Heading back home, I don't bother working out when I need to be back at the bus stop, as it ends up being six and two threes... I used to be pretty selective when travelling from Newcastle Rd to Park Lane and opted for the 9 whenever I could given that the journey time was shorter by a few minutes, but nowadays find it is not worth the hassle.

(05 Jan 2015, 1:50 pm)Dan wrote I find it difficult to compare the price of day, weekly and annual tickets between operators due to the totally different ways their services operate.

Stagecoach operates very few services to allow you to travel between different cities. If I wanted to travel between Sunderland and Newcastle, I'd have to get the E2 from my house to Marsden followed by the hourly X34 to Newcastle, with journey time (including connections) being longer than it would have been for me by using the 56 or X36 direct to Newcastle from the Stadium of Light.

I gave this as an example previously, when one of my friends (who lives in Monkwearmouth) was deciding which ticket to buy following the expiry of her POP card.

Similarly, there are no services which get you from Teesside to Tyne and Wear. Go North East doesn't even have a depot in Teesside yet provides three buses per hour from Tyne and Wear to Teesside!

Arriva's prices are higher than Stagecoach's too, presumably for the same reason as Go North East... You can go so much further with greater ease.

Looking at just the X36 though, it's instantly at a disadvantage, because the Boldon to Newcastle (and the fast) section of the route is more expensive than the X34. Aside from the price, I'd say it's like for like, as passengers aren't going to care about a few minutes difference in timings between the two.

Fare paying passengers, unless they already have a valid season ticket with either operator, are going to use the cheapest service. I used day tickets as the example, as neither publish their return fares, and I didn't have time to query it with both operators. The difference between £3.80 and £6.20, I'm sure you'll admit, is significant. 

I get that different operators operate the services in completely different ways, but if someone wants to make a day trip between Boldon and Shields, as per this example, I don't think they'll be too concerned that there's three buses an hour to Teesside. Nor will they be too bothered that Arriva run services to Berwick. I just think that it's a missing opportunity that some sort of special fares aren't on offer for this service, especially when it's recently been reduced due to low passenger numbers. Perhaps a Fast Cats route saver, or even a weekend/school holiday discount return would encourage numbers across? 

I've deliberately ignored the Boldon-Sunderland section of the route, because I do think that any service between Sunderland and Newcastle is doomed. The majority of daytime travellers will choose to use the Metro nowadays. I do think that the Boldon-Newcastle section has growth, but perhaps a need to get back to the drawing board for the first leg of the route. Something that GNE can't be accused of not doing in the past, with replacing the X3 with the X36 in the first place.

(05 Jan 2015, 2:03 pm)Andreos1 wrote That's a good point.

Anyone in Boldon has the choice of operators, with some being conc pass holders (who aren't fussy) and those who do pay, possibly preferring to pay for the cheaper X34.
It would make sense to use the X34 and 100 if going to the Metrocentre too, rather than change at Gateshead

Interesting to see the X36 move to Market Street - not far at all from the X34 stop.
Maybe they are looking to pick up a few punters off Stagecoach?

Whether this is a common pattern I don't know, but I have noticed that on the very rare occasions I am in Boldon or on the 9/X36 - passengers seem to prefer the quicker 9 between Sunderland and Boldon.

Well, this is exactly it! You quite often board a bus, and there's a poster up saying that you can use your Buzzfare to get to X, Y and Z. Washington buses had one over Christmas, about Metrocentre, Eldon Square and the Quaylink I think it was, and the X9/X10 quite rightly promote that they're cheaper than rail, at £7.70 for a day ticket. The X36 can't use this sort of marketing to it's advantage, until the pricing is looked at for that specific route.

(05 Jan 2015, 8:33 pm)aureolin wrote Looking at just the X36 though, it's instantly at a disadvantage, because the Boldon to Newcastle (and the fast) section of the route is more expensive than the X34. Aside from the price, I'd say it's like for like, as passengers aren't going to care about a few minutes difference in timings between the two.

Fare paying passengers, unless they already have a valid season ticket with either operator, are going to use the cheapest service. I used day tickets as the example, as neither publish their return fares, and I didn't have time to query it with both operators. The difference between £3.80 and £6.20, I'm sure you'll admit, is significant. 

I get that different operators operate the services in completely different ways, but if someone wants to make a day trip between Boldon and Shields, as per this example, I don't think they'll be too concerned that there's three buses an hour to Teesside. Nor will they be too bothered that Arriva run services to Berwick. I just think that it's a missing opportunity that some sort of special fares aren't on offer for this service, especially when it's recently been reduced due to low passenger numbers. Perhaps a Fast Cats route saver, or even a weekend/school holiday discount return would encourage numbers across? 

I've deliberately ignored the Boldon-Sunderland section of the route, because I do think that any service between Sunderland and Newcastle is doomed. The majority of daytime travellers will choose to use the Metro nowadays. I do think that the Boldon-Newcastle section has growth, but perhaps a need to get back to the drawing board for the first leg of the route. Something that GNE can't be accused of not doing in the past, with replacing the X3 with the X36 in the first place.

Sorry -  I hadn't read your post in context to the "Fast Cats" X36 service, and I was speaking generally.
My point was that Go North East's day ticket prices are based on zones, due to the fact that their network of services cover such a large distance. Stagecoach can introduce a day ticket covering all of their operations at a fairly low price because it's impossible for customers to make use of Stagecoach's entire network in the North East (my example before was that there was no way to get from Wearside or Tyneside to Teesside). There are occasionally other tickets offered - route savers, town/city savers - which are cheaper than the comparable BuzzFare ticket. Arriva's pricing strategy is exactly the same.

It's unusual that there isn't some form of cheaper day ticket available in the X36's case. By taking a quick look at Go North East's website, their Sunderland and South Tyneside DaySavers are £3.50 - 30p cheaper than Stagecoach's similar offering. Clearly there are instances whereby Stagecoach's ticket is better value (E1/E2/E6 services - the Sunderland DaySaver would not be valid as far as South Shields), but in the large majority of cases, Go North East's DaySavers offer better value for more local town services where there is competition.

(05 Jan 2015, 9:03 pm)Dan wrote Sorry -  I hadn't read your post in context to the "Fast Cats" X36 service, and I was speaking generally.
My point was that Go North East's day ticket prices are based on zones, due to the fact that their network of services cover such a large distance. Stagecoach can introduce a day ticket covering all of their operations at a fairly low price because it's impossible for customers to make use of Stagecoach's entire network in the North East. There are occasionally other tickets offered - route savers, town/city savers - which are cheaper than the comparable BuzzFare ticket. Arriva's pricing strategy is exactly the same.

It's unusual that there isn't some form of cheaper day ticket available in the X36's case. By taking a quick look at Go North East's website, their Sunderland and South Tyneside DaySavers are £3.50 - 30p cheaper than Stagecoach's similar offering. Clearly there are instances whereby Stagecoach's ticket is better value (E1/E2/E6 services - the Sunderland DaySaver would not be valid as far as South Shields), but in the large majority of cases, Go North East's DaySavers offer better value for more local town services where there is competition.

A return is £4.50 though - not £6.20.

(05 Jan 2015, 9:05 pm)Tom wrote A return is £4.50 though - not £6.20.

A little confused what you mean?

Aureolin's £6.20 figure was based on a Red & Purple 2 Zone BuzzFare - the only day ticket which is available to use on the X36 service between Boldon and Newcastle.

(05 Jan 2015, 9:06 pm)Dan wrote A little confused what you mean?

Aureolin's £6.20 figure was based on a Red & Purple 2 Zone BuzzFare - the only day ticket which is available to use on the X36 service between Boldon and Newcastle.

I know, but I doubt many people would buy a day ticket for a journey between Boldon and Newcastle, and opt for a return. Whereas, on Stagecoach the daysaver is the only option, so it's only 70p difference.

Was there once an x36 that use to go to metrocentre

(05 Jan 2015, 9:26 pm)gneasy91 wrote Was there once an x36 that use to go to metrocentre

Yes, X36 Newcastle-metro centre-whickham-stanley-South Stanley. Northern service from 90's era.

Remember x34 has wifi to, and the x36 doesn't lol

(05 Jan 2015, 10:17 pm)idiot wrote Remember x34 has wifi to, and the x36 doesn't lol

Unless you get the Olympian .

Which is a hell of bus ha!

What brand will the 33 fall under i quite liked tbe magic round about wt it was on years ago

(05 Jan 2015, 11:03 pm)gneasy91 wrote What brand will the 33 fall under i quite liked tbe magic round about wt it was on years ago

Atm, i don't think anyone knows, (couple of GNE representatives probables knows).

I would say corporate, im sure the 39 is interworking with the 33, we don't even know what buses it will use.

4946 has returned to service - on 20s this afternoon.

(06 Jan 2015, 2:36 pm)Dan wrote 4946 has returned to service - on 20s this afternoon.

Must of walked straight past you as I have taken a quick photo of it in Park Lane thinking it was 4945.

There has been an incident of some sort on the 71 route - driver mentioned an entire road being closed.

Chester must be a bit short of deckers - two Scanias on Scholars this evening, 4930 and another unidentified one.

Possibly due to repaints, (not sure if all of Chester's are done yet?) or a VOR?

(06 Jan 2015, 4:37 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Chester must be a bit short of deckers - two Scanias on Scholars this evening, 4930 and another unidentified one.

Possibly due to repaints, (not sure if all of Chester's are done yet?) or a VOR?

None should be away - 6016 should be back and i think they are focusing on the Sunderland repaints so id assume its down to some problem involving deckers being VOR or required somewhere else.

(06 Jan 2015, 4:37 pm)MarcTheA4 wrote Chester must be a bit short of deckers - two Scanias on Scholars this evening, 4930 and another unidentified one.

Possibly due to repaints, (not sure if all of Chester's are done yet?) or a VOR?

Thought there was meant to be two Scanias allocated anyway? One has been like that since the start of the academic school year, and the other being allocated to that new one?

(06 Jan 2015, 4:43 pm)Dan wrote Thought there was meant to be two Scanias allocated anyway? One has been like that since the start of the academic school year, and the other being allocated to that new one?

Oh, well 2 extra Scanias in that case!

The one either 4934 or 4935 is allocated to isn't my school, and the 889 doesn't pass through the site I'm on, hence I couldn't have seen it.

The school don't like a single decker showing up - boys downstairs, girls upstairs, bums on seats.

Driver is unable to get 4970 started back up whilst operating service 35 on Stand Q in Park Lane - those travelling along the route to Fulwell transferred to the following 9 (5159), with all other passengers transferred to the following 35A (unidentified Citaro). Engineer attending in 1036.

(06 Jan 2015, 6:23 pm)aureolin wrote Quote the Equality Act. 

No good. You'll be fighting a losing battle against a senior member of staff.

Hoping this isn't seen by anyone at school, they take the high ground by punishing you for standing up to them.

(06 Jan 2015, 2:36 pm)Dan wrote 4946 has returned to service - on 20s this afternoon.

The coat of paint didn't do anything to improve the ride quality of this one...

Go North East: 4946 / NK51OLM by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

Just reading some of the comments on the GCT page about mucky vehicles - reminded me of some GNE vehicles I have seen today.

Several were bad, including two examples on the X35. One was so bad at the rear, you couldn't make out the rear blind.
It's a good job a copper didn't see the obscured reg plate!

I wonder if GNE gets any these Volvo B5TL (maybe for X9/X10 lol)

http://www.route-one.net/vehicles/delive...gemini-3s/

(06 Jan 2015, 7:23 pm)cbma06 wrote I wonder if GNE gets any these Volvo B5TL (maybe for X9/X10 lol)

http://www.route-one.net/vehicles/delive...gemini-3s/

Lothian trialled a Volvo B5TL demonstrator on service 27 last year. I heard that service 27 was too demanding and as such had to retain its Volvo B9TLs. Because of this, the Volvo B5TLs were primarily deployed on services 3 and 33 instead. Sundays see them allocated to other services, including service 25 which is usually operated by Dennis Tridents.

I'd suggest the majority of our services are definitely on par with service 27, if not even more demanding.

Former "Laser" branded Scania L94UB/Wright Solar 4968 (NK53 UNU) is the latest example to arrive at Saltmeadows for repaint into "Prince Bishops" purple, ahead of the service changes later this month.

Former "Silver Arrows" branded Mercedes Citaro 0530N/Mercedes Citaro 5325 (NK58 DWC) still remains at Saltmeadows, despite being sent to Saltmeadows on December 29th. Likely that Go North East will try to fit in three Scanias per week instead of two Scanias and one Merc - clearly a problem of some sort as it definitely doesn't take nine days to repaint a bus!