(17 Nov 2013, 8:38 pm)Dan wrote Slightly worrying that the President wasn't parked outside of the depot if it was planned... Guessing you and other passengers didn't have a high visibility jacket on, and that shouldn't have been allowed.
Last time something similar happened to me, both buses parked outside of the depot.

It was a perfectly sensible thing to do, possibly safer than swapping buses in the road and only a total jobsworth would object or even bother commenting on it

(18 Nov 2013, 5:42 pm)Greg in Weardale wrote It was a perfectly sensible thing to do, possibly safer than swapping buses in the road and only a total jobsworth would object or even bother commenting on it

In which case, do you find enthusiasts wandering into depots acceptable too then?
I stand by what I said - the changeover should have taken place on the pavement outside of the depot, rather than inside of the depot. There is sufficient space outside of the depot where buses often park prior to leaving at Washington.

(18 Nov 2013, 6:02 pm)Dan wrote In which case, do you find enthusiasts wandering into depots acceptable too then?
I stand by what I said - the changeover should have taken place on the pavement outside of the depot, rather than inside of the depot. There is sufficient space outside of the depot where buses often park prior to leaving at Washington.

A slight difference between wandering unescorted into a working area to being supervised and entering with permission

(18 Nov 2013, 6:16 pm)gtomlinson wrote A slight difference between wandering unescorted into a working area to being supervised and entering with permission

Yes, I agree - but how can you guarantee that someone won't do something stupid while inside of the depot? Supervised or not, you don't have that guarantee. For that reason and that reason alone, the changeover should not have taken place inside of the depot.

(18 Nov 2013, 6:23 pm)Dan wrote Yes, I agree - but how can you guarantee that someone won't do something stupid while inside of the depot? Supervised or not, you don't have that guarantee. For that reason and that reason alone, the changeover should not have taken place inside of the depot.

Stupid such as?

I imagine there'd be no movements in the area.

For all we know GNE have a policy on these sort of changeovers and procedures were followed

(18 Nov 2013, 6:28 pm)gtomlinson wrote Stupid such as?

I imagine there'd be no movements in the area.

For all we know GNE have a policy on these sort of changeovers and procedures were followed

Doing something they simply shouldn't be doing... Touching things, I don't know.

What if someone tripped and fell over? Injured themselves? Bus depots are massive tin sheds in most cases, and are often quite dark. Who would be held responsible? What would happen?

I don't think their policy would be so daft to allow these movements between vehicles to occur inside of the depot - it would be outside of the depot on the pavement if anything.

(18 Nov 2013, 6:31 pm)Dan wrote Doing something they simply shouldn't be doing... Touching things, I don't know.

What if someone tripped and fell over? Injured themselves? Bus depots are massive tin sheds in most cases, and are often quite dark. Who would be held responsible? What would happen?

I don't think their policy would be so daft to allow these movements between vehicles to occur inside of the depot - it would be outside of the depot on the pavement if anything.

I remember years ago that when Washington had those boxed shaped minibuses that when the relieve driver was unable to get from the depot to concord then the driver used to take the bus round to the inside of the depot so there can change drivers.

There was plenty of times when I was on the X95 and the driver used to pop into the depot, even though the service used to operate by Sunderland depot.

the old GNE depot at Herrington used to be a bad place for drivers entering the depot in service for them to change drivers, I remember on the 535/536 when there used to changed drivers at Newbottle and when the relieve driver never turns up then the driver used to take the bus all the way down to Herrington depot for them to change drivers.

(18 Nov 2013, 6:31 pm)Dan wrote Doing something they simply shouldn't be doing... Touching things, I don't know.

What if someone tripped and fell over? Injured themselves? Bus depots are massive tin sheds in most cases, and are often quite dark. Who would be held responsible? What would happen?

I don't think their policy would be so daft to allow these movements between vehicles to occur inside of the depot - it would be outside of the depot on the pavement if anything.

Think you're possibly taking things a bit too serious. I'm sure it was a case of bus needs replacing, right pull into depot- people onto this bus please. The majority of people will get straight onto the bus. I mean your first thought might be oo let's see what little gems I can snap in here but the majority of people will simply get onto the bus as I need to Sunderland etc. I'm sure there would of been staff around too.

(18 Nov 2013, 6:31 pm)Dan wrote Doing something they simply shouldn't be doing... Touching things, I don't know.

What if someone tripped and fell over? Injured themselves? Bus depots are massive tin sheds in most cases, and are often quite dark. Who would be held responsible? What would happen?

I don't think their policy would be so daft to allow these movements between vehicles to occur inside of the depot - it would be outside of the depot on the pavement if anything.

The H&S at Work Act is almost 40 years old and even though there has been fine tuning of it and the introduction of endless amounts of red tape, handovers, swaps and even being parked in a depot when those have been happening, have gone on for years.
There have been mentions of it happening on this forum (me at Sunderland Road and Philly, Fozz at Philly and gmitchellhill at Washington).
I am aware of buses on Newcastle expresses at the Galleries diverting via Washington depot and changing vehicles after seeing it and hearing about it from friends/family too.

Whether it is right or wrong, who are we to judge.

It has happened and until someone states otherwise, it will keep happening.

(18 Nov 2013, 6:43 pm)CatsFast101 wrote Think your possibly taking things a bit too serious. I'm sure it was a case of bus needs replacing, right pull into depot- people onto this bus please. The majority of people will get straight onto the bus. I mean your first thought might be oo let's see what little gems I can snap in here but the majority of people will simply get onto the bus as I need to Sunderland etc. I'm sure there would of been staff around too.

Haven't we all blown the case with enthusiasts entering depots out of proportion too though? I understand that the example I have given is an extreme, but we've done that on the "Trespassing" thread too.

Go North East are liable for any injuries that take place in their depots - whether it's a member of the public, a driver or indeed an engineer.

Gary told us that he didn't think the replacement had been 'arranged' too far in advance; as such, the vehicle was not parked at the front of the depot (where they leave) ready to act as the 56's replacement. Therefore, it means that passengers would have had to walk to the other bus - however short a distance that may have been, an engineer may have left a tool on the floor while he was working on a bus, and a member of the public could have tripped over this.

(18 Nov 2013, 6:44 pm)andreos1 wrote The H&S at Work Act is almost 40 years old and even though there has been fine tuning of it and the introduction of endless amounts of red tape, handovers, swaps and even being parked in a depot when those have been happening, have gone on for years.
There have been mentions of it happening on this forum (me at Sunderland Road and Philly, Fozz at Philly and gmitchellhill at Washington).
I am aware of buses on Newcastle expresses at the Galleries diverting via Washington depot and changing vehicles after seeing it and hearing about it from friends/family too.

Whether it is right or wrong, who are we to judge.

It has happened and until someone states otherwise, it will keep happening.

It's happened on 2 occasions at Washington Depot, The First was when the Driver took ill while operating the old W3 to Coach Road in 2009 when I was on my way to College, and she was sick at the Wheel so we had no choice but to change inside the Depot. On the second occasion it was a Simple Driver Swap at Concord on the M1, Again on my way to College, And the other Driver hadn't turned up, So we went to the Depot where there was still no Driver, Turned out said Driver went to Washington Galleries as he thought he was doing the X1 rather than the M1, So we swapped Buses and continued our Journey, I would assume we swapped so the other Driver could get back on time.

Am I the only one who has had a change over outside of the depot? Both vehicles were parked next to each other where the SPD is parked on Google Maps...

(18 Nov 2013, 7:04 pm)Dan wrote Am I the only one who has had a change over outside of the depot? Both vehicles were parked next to each other where the SPD is parked on Google Maps...

I have being inside but not off the bus, this was when the silver arrows was based at Washington, he went in to the depot for the key to open the Citaro Windows.

There's a high likely hood that passengers changing vehicles in the depot is covered by the companies insurance policy. Changing buses in a depot has happened to me multiple times. It has happened at Loftus on numerous occasions.

(18 Nov 2013, 7:04 pm)Dan wrote Am I the only one who has had a change over outside of the depot? Both vehicles were parked next to each other where the SPD is parked on Google Maps...

I've had a one outside the depot on a Birtley-bound M3, but they go that way anyway. Never been inside Washington Depot, although I have been on a 'Tyne Tees Express' that went in to Sunderland Road depot.

(18 Nov 2013, 7:07 pm)GMitchelhill wrote There's a high likely hood that passengers changing vehicles in the depot is covered by the companies insurance policy. Changing buses in a depot has happened to me multiple times. It has happened at Loftus on numerous occasions.

Out of curiosity, how recent are all of these instances when you have had to change buses inside of a bus depot?

(18 Nov 2013, 4:54 pm)Adam Malarkey wrote Yeah the quality of the Photo does it no favours i'll admit, My Camera doesn't like Night Shots i'm afraid

It probably does like them, but even the best of cameras need to take a lot more light in on a night, so the shutter is open longer when you shoot. Hence the blurry vision. Tripod would sort the job but not the most practical thing to carry about!

(18 Nov 2013, 7:10 pm)Dan wrote Out of curiosity, how recent are all of these instances when you have had to change buses inside of a bus depot?

Twice in three years I've had a bus detour to a depot for a change over. Once on the 21 and once on the X25. Both were done outside, at the Chester depot bus stop.

(18 Nov 2013, 7:25 pm)aureolin wrote Twice in three years I've had a bus detour to a depot for a change over. Once on the 21 and once on the X25. Both were done outside, at the Chester depot bus stop.

Which is what the driver should do... Hurrah, we do have some drivers that play it by the book!
If it was five or more years ago, I'd accept that drivers were allowed to go inside of the depot for changeovers. As I said before, the company would be held liable if someone was injured or even if oil managed to get on someone's clothing...

(18 Nov 2013, 7:04 pm)Dan wrote Am I the only one who has had a change over outside of the depot? Both vehicles were parked next to each other where the SPD is parked on Google Maps...

Never on a Go North East bus but quite a few times with Stagecoach down here on the 13 - everytime at the stop outside the depot. Even the time a wing mirror needed replacing, that happened outside the depot with one of the fitters coming out to sort it out.

(18 Nov 2013, 7:10 pm)Dan wrote Out of curiosity, how recent are all of these instances when you have had to change buses inside of a bus depot?

The Washington one was in April 2012 when me and my friend Graeme got on 70 different buses in Tyne & Wear in a single day.

The ones in Loftus were a few years ago.

Most recent excersion into a depot on a service bus was a few months ago when I got on an Arriva DLA atAshington Bus Station where upon departure headed into thdepot yard for a drink of water.
Anyway there is a few places around the country where the bus station often doubled up as a Bus Depot.ncluded places such as Jarrow, Park Lane (old one), Galashiels, Stokesley, Northampton, Berwick, Gallowgate,and no doubt many more around the UK.

Chances of bus companies will change buses where is causes the least convinience to the passenger and doesn't lose too much time.

There is a difference between actually having to change buses in a depot environment and just sitting on whilst something is either repaired or wants a fluid topping up.

(18 Nov 2013, 7:47 pm)GMitchelhill wrote Most recent excersion into a depot on a service bus was a few months ago when I got on an Arriva DLA atAshington Bus Station where upon departure headed into thdepot yard for a drink of water.
Anyway there is a few places around the country where the bus station often doubled up as a Bus Depot.ncluded places such as Jarrow, Park Lane (old one), Galashiels, Stokesley, Northampton, Berwick, Gallowgate,and no doubt many more around the UK.

Chances of bus companies will change buses where is causes the least convinience to the passenger and doesn't lose too much time.

As far as I'm aware, there are no strict policies (at least for GNE) about buses going into depots with passengers on, as long as they remain on the bus at all times. Going into the depot yard 'for a drink of water' is not particularly bad in comparison to passengers having to alight a bus inside of a depot to get to their replacement vehicle - as citaro5284 said above.

In the event of a bus needing to be replaced while on route, the driver should contact his 'home depot'. If the bus is closer to another depot, his 'home depot' should get in contact with the aforementioned closer depot. An allocator should then provide a new vehicle and they should ask a depot engineer to take it to a suitable 'meeting point'.

At a last resort, the driver should go to the depot to pick up the vehicle himself. In this case, he should park the bus at a suitable place outside of the depot (at a bus stop if applicable), and the driver should pick up the bus and pick the passengers up from the point he dropped them off at.

This does not involve going inside of a depot, for this breaks a good few rules. If drivers are doing this, they ought to be reminded that the rules changed a good 5 years ago or so. Like I say, there are a number of possibilities that could happen (however unlikely the events happening are).

To be honest I don't know why everyone is getting worked up about having to change vehicles in the depot. It isn't important, if the company wants passengers to change vehicles in the depot then so be it. It isn't going to cause the world to implode. The company does what suits its needs, and usually they take the easier option. They won't care what we think.

(18 Nov 2013, 8:02 pm)GMitchelhill wrote The company does what suits its needs, and usually they take the easier option. They won't care what we think.

Here's me thinking I've just quoted GNE's "rule book" on that sort of thing, rather than it being my own personal thoughts and opinions... I must be wrong.
I can't vouch for other companies, but that's what is meant to happen for GNE.

I wander when the 9 will get a brand I like the sound of cross tyne 9

(18 Nov 2013, 8:02 pm)GMitchelhill wrote To be honest I don't know why everyone is getting worked up about having to change vehicles in the depot. It isn't important, if the company wants passengers to change vehicles in the depot then so be it. It isn't going to cause the world to implode. The company does what suits its needs, and usually they take the easier option. They won't care what we think.

I like it how the rules are only important when it suits. Or when it's Bazza.

(18 Nov 2013, 8:29 pm)aureolin wrote I like it how the rules are only important when it suits. Or when it's Bazza.

Hear, hear!

(18 Nov 2013, 8:36 pm)Dan wrote Hear, hear!

I HERE BY CALL THIS MEETING OF THE TOWN!

haha sorry

Anyone who thinks what Bazza does (allegedly) compared to a supervised passenger change in a secure part of the depot where drivers and staff are aware of what's happening (including managers and control) is an idiot and is arguing purely for the sake of it.