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(17 Jul 2019, 12:12 pm)ifm001 wrote My gripe with the new zones is South Tyneside still has been kept to a minimal link with Gateshead and Newcastle. A Boldon to Heworth journey still requires a 2 zone ticket for a journey time of less than 10 minutes. But a journey from Blyth to Washington via Newcastle can still be done on 1 zone taking nigh on 90-120 minutes. The re think of the zones is still not just quite right.
(17 Jul 2019, 12:12 pm)ifm001 wrote My gripe with the new zones is South Tyneside still has been kept to a minimal link with Gateshead and Newcastle. A Boldon to Heworth journey still requires a 2 zone ticket for a journey time of less than 10 minutes. But a journey from Blyth to Washington via Newcastle can still be done on 1 zone taking nigh on 90-120 minutes. The re think of the zones is still not just quite right.
Totally agree with your sentiments.
Miss the 50 from Boldon, need to get to Washington - pay the additional surcharge to go via Heworth and then back in to the red zone or wait for the next 50?
Not too bad during the day, but painful at other times.
(17 Jul 2019, 12:22 pm)streetdeckfan wrote But realistically is anyone doing that journey going to buy a day ticket?
No matter what they do, it's always going to be bad for some people, that's just the nature of splitting the area into zones.
I think I made the point previously about there being some sort of overlap between zones. A 'no-mans zone' for want of a better phrase - not too dissimilar to Washington, but on a smaller scale.
I'm not sure how it could be policed or managed, but allowing a red ticket to travel in to the next zone would go a long way to appeasing those who live on or near a border.
The boundary between Chester and Tyne & Wear (using the 71, 78 or 8 as examples) doesn't benefit any passengers. Particularly on those evening trips.
Stick an overlap in of sorts and travelling between the points can become viable.
(17 Jul 2019, 12:51 pm)Andreos1 wrote
Totally agree with your sentiments.
Miss the 50 from Boldon, need to get to Washington - pay the additional surcharge to go via Heworth and then back in to the red zone or wait for the next 50?
Not too bad during the day, but painful at other times.
I think I made the point previously about there being some sort of overlap between zones. A 'no-mans zone' for want of a better phrase - not too dissimilar to Washington, but on a smaller scale.
I'm not sure how it could be policed or managed, but allowing a red ticket to travel in to the next zone would go a long way to appeasing those who live on or near a border.
The boundary between Chester and Tyne & Wear (using the 71, 78 or 8 as examples) doesn't benefit any passengers. Particularly on those evening trips.
Stick an overlap in of sorts and travelling between the points can become viable.
I see where you're coming from, but once you start letting people use their ticket in another zone by a stop or two, it's going to get abused.
What they could have done that would have been nice would make the interchanges near the borders a 'netural zone' so you can go via them, as long as you get on a bus that goes back into the zone your ticket is for
Or even if they operated a policy where it's at the drivers discression, but I know when I was on the 27 to Newcastle, someone tried to get on the bus one stop into the red zone as they couldn't make it to the next stop, and the driver made them pay for a ticket to the next stop.
(17 Jul 2019, 2:20 pm)enviro7501 wrote When is 9080 re-entering service? And can it actually be in service this time instead of circling around Gateshead Interchange?
It entered service last time on the Saltwell Park 53/54?
Driver familiarisation should be completed by mid-day tomorrow, at which point it will enter service on Citylink service 58.
(17 Jul 2019, 2:25 pm)Dan wrote
It entered service last time on the Saltwell Park 53/54?
Driver familiarisation should be completed by mid-day tomorrow, at which point it will enter service on Citylink service 58.
The day I went to get it, all it did was circle around Gateshead Interchange. Thanks for the info Dan.
(17 Jul 2019, 1:05 pm)streetdeckfan wrote
I see where you're coming from, but once you start letting people use their ticket in another zone by a stop or two, it's going to get abused.
What they could have done that would have been nice would make the interchanges near the borders a 'netural zone' so you can go via them, as long as you get on a bus that goes back into the zone your ticket is for
Or even if they operated a policy where it's at the drivers discression, but I know when I was on the 27 to Newcastle, someone tried to get on the bus one stop into the red zone as they couldn't make it to the next stop, and the driver made them pay for a ticket to the next stop.
So Chester Town centre or Durham then?
Nice central points and not open to ambiguity.
Saves punters having to buy a 2zone ticket to travel a few miles up the road.
(17 Jul 2019, 6:24 pm)Andreos1 wrote
So Chester Town centre or Durham then?
Nice central points and not open to ambiguity.
Saves punters having to buy a 2zone ticket to travel a few miles up the road.
Do you not think this would cause issues too?
In years gone by, the boundary for tickets was Blaydon Bus Station. This meant that anyone travelling from Stella, just a stone's throw away from the bus station in Blaydon, had to pay more for their fares as they crossed the border in Blaydon. Nowadays, the border is Stella, so that those in Stella don't have to purchase a two-zone ticket.
You could then argue the people of Ryton are fairly close too, but where does this argument end..?
(17 Jul 2019, 6:30 pm)Dan wrote
Do you not think this would cause issues too?
In years gone by, the boundary for tickets was Blaydon Bus Station. This meant that anyone travelling from Stella, just a stone's throw away from the bus station in Blaydon, had to pay more for their fares as they crossed the border in Blaydon. Nowadays, the border is Stella, so that those in Stella don't have to purchase a two-zone ticket.
You could then argue the people of Ryton are fairly close too, but where does this argument end..?
I quite like what Arriva does, where some services you can go outside the zone. Like with the Durham District, you can still get the X12 to Newcastle.
For example, GNE could do a similar thing and allow you to use a Green ticket on the X21/21 to Newcastle, or a green ticket from Stanley to Consett, but if you wanted to travel around Consett you'd need an All zone.
(17 Jul 2019, 6:30 pm)Dan wrote
Do you not think this would cause issues too?
In years gone by, the boundary for tickets was Blaydon Bus Station. This meant that anyone travelling from Stella, just a stone's throw away from the bus station in Blaydon, had to pay more for their fares as they crossed the border in Blaydon. Nowadays, the border is Stella, so that those in Stella don't have to purchase a two-zone ticket.
You could then argue the people of Ryton are fairly close too, but where does this argument end..?
No more than Washington will.
If it can be managed there, then I can't see why it can't be managed elsewhere.
(17 Jul 2019, 8:15 pm)Adrian wrote Bit of a ramble of my thoughts on the recent announcement that GoZones will replace Buzzfare: https://durhamtobeyond.wordpress.com/201...fare-game/
I wish GNE would start serving more of the areas around County Durham again. I know it'll never happen, but I would love for them to extend the X21 even further, perhaps to Darlington.
Plus, it would make me actually consider visiting Darlington, at the minute, the only options are pay for an Arriva ticket, or get on a Pacer, and I'd rather do neither!
I think part of the reason why the OK1 failed was because there were basically no other GNE services around it, besides the X21, so that meant unless people were coming from somewhere along the X21 route, they'd have to get an Arriva ticket first, and at that point they might as well have just used an Arriva service the whole way.
The issue with each company having their own 'patch' is that there is little to no competition at all, which I think is why we see companies like Arriva 'upgrade' their routes with 11 year old buses. Sure, if we have it so every route is serviced by all companies, it would be a nightmare, but it would be nice to see more overlap.
Back in reality though, that'll never happen, so at the very least, I would there to be a ticket that includes T&W and County Durham
(17 Jul 2019, 6:24 pm)Andreos1 wrote
So Chester Town centre or Durham then?
Nice central points and not open to ambiguity.
Saves punters having to buy a 2zone ticket to travel a few miles up the road.
On that point, I noticed there's no mini zone for Durham City. Obviously not trying to compete with Arriva, there.
(17 Jul 2019, 7:18 pm)streetdeckfan wrote
I quite like what Arriva does, where some services you can go outside the zone. Like with the Durham District, you can still get the X12 to Newcastle.
For example, GNE could do a similar thing and allow you to use a Green ticket on the X21/21 to Newcastle, or a green ticket from Stanley to Consett, but if you wanted to travel around Consett you'd need an All zone.
Yep, the Durham County is valid on the 22 all the way to Sunderland. You can't get off in Ryhope and back on again to Park lane, as that's all outside the zone, but you can travel into and out of the zone on the ticket.
Or, well, that's the theory. Not many of the drivers seemed to be aware of it.
(17 Jul 2019, 7:54 pm)Andreos1 wrote
No more than Washington will.
If it can be managed there, then I can't see why it can't be managed elsewhere.
Would have been nice to see Washington tweaked into the green, too. I expect there's a lot of people from CLS work there or visit regularly for other reasons.
(17 Jul 2019, 10:38 pm)BusLoverMum wrote
On that point, I noticed there's no mini zone for Durham City. Obviously not trying to compete with Arriva, there.
Yep, the Durham County is valid on the 22 all the way to Sunderland. You can't get off in Ryhope and back on again to Park lane, as that's all outside the zone, but you can travel into and out of the zone on the ticket.
Or, well, that's the theory. Not many of the drivers seemed to be aware of it.
Would have been nice to see Washington tweaked into the green, too. I expect there's a lot of people from CLS work there or visit regularly for other reasons.
But from a business perspective, if they know plenty of people have to travel between them, it makes sense to split them apart as those people will pay the price regardless (to a point).
Overall, I think the new zones are a lot better than the old ones, and I like the new zone map, as it shows the real distance between things, you can really tell which areas GNE don't operate in now!
(17 Jul 2019, 7:03 pm)S830OFT wrote Is the 64/95 morning journey allocating an ex EYMS bus? Because this journey used to operate with one of the OmniDekkas...
Beware that for the 6 weeks hols at least, the 95 and 64 that were operated with a Jewish contract bus will be using something else, probably a Solo.
![[Image: 48315509951_b4cc645bc4_c.jpg]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48315509951_b4cc645bc4_c.jpg)
Go North East 9080 / LJ68 CYO by kieron mathews, on Flickr(18 Jul 2019, 3:17 pm)TEN 6083 wrote
9080 on its first service today at Gateshead
Running in pairs!
(18 Jul 2019, 3:17 pm)TEN 6083 wrote
9080 on its first service today at Gateshead
Really hope it's actually in service tomorrow, and if it does, then it doesn't get taken out of service. It's also not tracking on the app.
(17 Jul 2019, 6:29 am)Dan wrote
There's me thinking folk that currently pay £110 for a 3-zone plus ticket to use services between Newcastle and Consett end to end would be happy that their bus fare has reduced to just £95 (i.e. £15/month saving) for an all-zones ticket...
At least the extra £15 per month in customers' pockets is helping to pay for Go North East's new depot and buses in Consett though...
It's a good saving for a regular traveller - the feedback on facebook seems to be full of people who will be paying less. There doesn't appear to be clarity around zone boundaries on the latest stuff on the website, seems to be confusing some passengers.
(15 Jul 2019, 1:21 pm)Michael wrote Better Fares from 21 July
We're changing our travel zones to make 4 simple GoZones, meaning you can travel further with your ticket. There will be two simple choices – one zone or all zones – many of which have been reduced to make your money go further.
https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/better-fares/
According to GNE,
No, Washington will now be included in both the purple and the red zone (depending on which way you want to travel)
(18 Jul 2019, 6:14 pm)Michael wrote Go North East's simplified zones and tickets set to be launched on Better Bus Fares Tour ahead of changes on Sunday
Go North East, the region's largest bus company, will be taking to the streets tomorrow (19 July) to launch their new simplified zones and tickets which come into effect on Sunday 21 July as part of its annual review of fares.
The Better Bus Fares Tour, which will call at the below places tomorrow, will have Go North East Managing Director, Martijn Gilbert, and Commercial Director, Stephen King, on board to promote the new offers and answer any questions.
Gateshead – 8.30am until 9.30am
Stanley – 10am until 10.30am
Consett – 11am until 12pm
Sunderland – 1pm until 2pm
Wallsend – 2.30pm until 3.30pm
http://newsroom.gonortheast.co.uk/news/g...day-376163
3999 appears to be the vehicle that will be used
