On one hand, all credit to the team for putting up all the breakdowns and issues. but the normal "customer" on the comments section just love to poke fun at GNE.

There were 5 breakdowns one day and the comments just kept rolling about how awful GNE were. No one cared that out of a fleet of 700+ vehicles only 5 were VOR which is a tiny tiny percentage of the overall fleet and is credit to good maintenance or lack of them reporting breakdowns on SM

(21 Feb 2020, 3:46 pm)WheelBus1986 wrote On one hand, all credit to the team for putting up all the breakdowns and issues. but the normal "customer" on the comments section just love to poke fun at GNE.

There were 5 breakdowns one day and the comments just kept rolling about how awful GNE were. No one cared that out of a fleet of 700+ vehicles only 5 were VOR which is a tiny tiny percentage of the overall fleet and is credit to good maintenance or lack of them reporting breakdowns on SM

Some of the comments people put up are absolutely pathetic, but they make for some good light entertainment!

The thing is, GNE could have no breakdowns, and run every bus exactly to timetable and people would still complain saying it turned up late!
I mean, as everyone knows I do love a good complaint, but only when it's deserved! If I complained on Twitter every time the X21 was over 2 minutes late, GNE would have blocked me!

(21 Feb 2020, 4:01 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Some of the comments people put up are absolutely pathetic, but they make for some good light entertainment!

The thing is, GNE could have no breakdowns, and run every bus exactly to timetable and people would still complain saying it turned up late!
I mean, as everyone knows I do love a good complaint, but only when it's deserved! If I complained on Twitter every time the X21 was over 2 minutes late, GNE would have blocked me!

Some of the comments are from people who don’t live on the route or never use buses at all, yet like to get the attention of other “genuine” passengers. I refer to these as trolls but unable to call them out.

This might be the wrong place for this...is Newcastle Airport good for plane spotting these days? (I have posted this here as I would get the 42A there...).

(21 Feb 2020, 10:39 am)streetdeckfan wrote Obviously from that perspective there needs to be a reason, but I was responding from more of the perspective of the non-enthusiast that you were mentioning.
I do agree with your point about the timing of the re-paints, although with the StreetDeck delay I'd imagine there could be some spare slots as vehicles may not be able to be off the road long enough for a repaint!

If they’d come up with a new Northern Coaching livery and brand, I could see the point, if they’d have based it on an old coaching livery from the past, I could see the point in that as well.

But I see little point in using these old names, a different one on each vehicle, especially ones like Charterplan which has no connection to the north east. A passenger will just think a load of different firms have turned up to do the rail replacement or the contact work.

It’s strange when at the same time they are dropping many quirky Geordie brands on the bus network replacing them with either corporate vehicles or much more generic brands that could be used anywhere.

(21 Feb 2020, 6:43 pm)Wybus wrote But I see little point in using these old names, a different one on each vehicle, especially ones like Charterplan which has no connection to the north east. A passenger will just think a load of different firms have turned up to do the rail replacement or the contact work.

And when a plain white coach turns up they'll think it's just a large faceless corporation doing it!
I'm sure the image they want to portray to passengers is that they are a small local firm doing it.

(22 Feb 2020, 10:58 am)streetdeckfan wrote And when a plain white coach turns up they'll think it's just a large faceless corporation doing it!
I'm sure the image they want to portray to passengers is that they are a small local firm doing it.

I bet I can guess at least one question being asked on Monday night..!

(22 Feb 2020, 11:14 am)Dan wrote I bet I can guess at least one question being asked on Monday night..!

Do they have NSA? ?

(22 Feb 2020, 11:17 am)streetdeckfan wrote Do they have NSA? ?

Doubt it, the coaches are for private hire, i even doubt national express have stop announcements, pointless if you ask me.

(22 Feb 2020, 11:20 am)Michael wrote Doubt it, the coaches are for private hire, i even doubt national express have stop announcements, pointless if you ask me.

I know, that question was in jest as it's fairly obvious they wont, since Dan seems to think the only thing I care about is the NSA!

What's happening with 6905 - 6909 when the new E400s arrive?

(23 Feb 2020, 3:01 pm)S830OFT wrote What's happening with 6905 - 6909 when the new E400s arrive?

Probables stay, i think 6905-6909 are for contracted services, the Red Arrow B9's are getting the Euro 6 upgrade so they'll be allocated on services which enter Newcastle.

(23 Feb 2020, 6:49 pm)Dan wrote In terms of a bus, I don't think there's anything out there on the market that's suitable for the X9/X10 that won't require replacement after a few years. In recent years, Go North East have had 5-litre, 7-litre and 9-litre engined buses running on these routes, and all after a few years have started facing reliability issues.

It's not too bad a business model to have - run buses for a few years on the X9/X10 then replace them once they start having issues (cascading onto less demanding routes). Ensures X9/X10 always stay at the forefront of innovation and other services reap the benefits too.

The only thing that could feasibly operate the X9/X10 services without issue would be interdeck coaches, which are a) very expensive, and b) unsuitable for the 'local' sections of the route.

Realistically I don't think Go North East would be considering replacement of these buses this year if it wasn't for the Newcastle CAZ coming into effect from January 2021. It's unusual to see more than one of these buses off the road, and now there's two dedicated spare buses (6334 & 6335), one would presume the allocation of single-deck buses will be a lot less frequent.

Continuing on from the discussion over on the Arriva discussion...

You mention that they wouldn't be considering replacement if it wasn't for the CAZ, am I right in thinking that would that be because the B5s will need replaced shortly anyway and it makes more sense financially to update them early to cascade the B5s elsewhere rather than update other routes that need it with new vehicles and be stuck with the B5s once they're replaced later down the line?

(23 Feb 2020, 8:09 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Continuing on from the discussion over on the Arriva discussion...

You mention that they wouldn't be considering replacement if it wasn't for the CAZ, am I right in thinking that would that be because the B5s will need replaced shortly anyway and it makes more sense financially to update them early to cascade the B5s elsewhere rather than update other routes that need it with new vehicles and be stuck with the B5s once they're replaced later down the line?

When new buses arrive for the X9/X10 , The B5s from the X9/X10 supposedly be going on the X84/X85 and rebranded as Xlines


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(23 Feb 2020, 9:01 pm)cbma06 wrote When new buses arrive for the X9/X10 , The B5s from the X9/X10 supposedly be going on the X84/X85 and rebranded as Xlines


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That was my thinking.
There's honestly no reason to upgrade the B5s just yet (as much as I hate them), but the Citaros will need to go soon because of the CAZ, and if the B5s will need to be replaced in the next few years anyway because of the mileage, replacing them early and cascading them to another route which needs Euro 6 and is less demanding makes a lot of sense.

Will the Red Arrows B9s be reallocated to the Crusader? Also if they don't get enough Euro 6 vehicles avaible, would it be a possibility to revise the 26 to be Gateshead to Shields only, with the 27 only crossing to Newcastle. End result reducing the PVR by 1.

(23 Feb 2020, 9:41 pm)S830OFT wrote Will the Red Arrows B9s be reallocated to the Crusader? Also if they don't get enough Euro 6 vehicles avaible, would it be a possibility to revise the 26 to be Gateshead to Shields only, with the 27 only crossing to Newcastle. End result reducing the PVR by 1.

Isn't Gateshead Interchange covered under the CAZ as well?

(23 Feb 2020, 9:45 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Isn't Gateshead Interchange covered under the CAZ as well?

No, just Newcastle City Centre.


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(23 Feb 2020, 9:46 pm)Dan wrote No, just Newcastle City Centre.


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I'm sure it was in one of the previous proposals, either that or my memory is worse than I thought!

The proposals have undergone many changes since they were first announced.

DB300s in my experience are very good at handling heavy-duty work, its just the DPF filters can get clogged up quite a bit (I know it's not in production anymore). I agree the B5TL isn't good for motorway work or any high-speed interval work, 240HP and the 918nm of torque just doesn't cut it. Couple that with all the equipment onboard, tables and passengers, it will stress the vehicle when loaded thus providing a laden feeling ride.

Problem is now with all the weight-saving dribble and lower emissions ect, vehicles are nowhere what they used to be. It's a false economy as vehicles are now less reliable and need replacing/upgrading sooner.

(23 Feb 2020, 9:48 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I'm sure it was in one of the previous proposals, either that or my memory is worse than I thought!

(23 Feb 2020, 11:37 pm)Rapidsnap wrote The proposals have undergone many changes since they were first announced.

Indeed, the original CAZ was much larger (and indeed went further into Gateshead). Effectively the 'border' is now any of the bridges:
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor...k-17266448

So to answer the original question - yes, if an operator was inclined to do so, they could terminate a service at Gateshead rather than run it into Newcastle, to avoid a £50 charge if the vehicle is non-compliant. It wouldn't really be in the operator's interests to do this as the majority of its passengers are in Newcastle, but there are a fair few peak-time journeys which run on/off scholars or other services which don't usually operate into Newcastle, so either these will need to be upgraded to Euro 6, or they won't run as they do currently.

Does anyone know what 999 Depot is tracking as on the 310

(23 Feb 2020, 9:41 pm)S830OFT wrote Will the Red Arrows B9s be reallocated to the Crusader? Also if they don't get enough Euro 6 vehicles avaible, would it be a possibility to revise the 26 to be Gateshead to Shields only, with the 27 only crossing to Newcastle. End result reducing the PVR by 1.

I thought the 6/12/12A would be a good shout for Red arrow B9s , However a rumour has it that 5463-5480 are going on crusaders and deptford to get the citaros

How long has 5453 had that vinyl on the bottom of the front windscreen?
It looks bloody horrendous!

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(24 Feb 2020, 2:30 pm)streetdeckfan wrote How long has 5453 had that vinyl on the bottom of the front windscreen?
It looks bloody horrendous!

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What vinyl?

(24 Feb 2020, 2:57 pm)BeachBoy99 wrote What vinyl?

I believe it is a promo for the £1.20 child ticket. We were driving past it and it stuck out like a big yellow sticker on a red bus!
Although, I suppose that's the point since I looked at it!

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(24 Feb 2020, 2:30 pm)streetdeckfan wrote How long has 5453 had that vinyl on the bottom of the front windscreen?
It looks bloody horrendous!

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Think a few buses have recieved promos on the front windscreens over the last few days, saw a few buses going round with a yellow vinyl advertising something under the destination screen on Saturday

(24 Feb 2020, 11:44 am)Citaro5326 wrote I thought the 6/12/12A would be a good shout for Red arrow B9s , However a rumour has it that 5463-5480 are going on crusaders and deptford to get the citaros

Hope we are not going from a suggestion of upgrading the Crusader to double deck and then going downhill by 'upgrading' to a streetlite instead.

(24 Feb 2020, 11:44 am)Citaro5326 wrote I thought the 6/12/12A would be a good shout for Red arrow B9s , However a rumour has it that 5463-5480 are going on crusaders and deptford to get the citaros

(24 Feb 2020, 3:40 pm)ifm001 wrote Hope we are not going from a suggestion of upgrading the Crusader to double deck and then going downhill by 'upgrading' to a streetlite instead.

More than likely see the B9s go on the Crusader (even though there's not enough on the Red Arrows to cover the PVR) than them going on 6/12/12A - not withstanding that they would have to change what the evening 6A/X30s would work off given the B9s are too tall for the Bridge in Dunston on the X30.....