Martijn has mentioned in his latest live update, that changes are due in September 2021... I would imagine these are school service changes and any routes which interwork with them.


No further information at the minute!

(04 Jul 2021, 10:21 am)Michael wrote Martijn has mentioned in his latest live update, that changes are due in September 2021... I would imagine these are school service changes and any routes which interwork with them.


No further information at the minute!

Hopefully some routes may be looked at

Will this eventually see the new "low height" E400MMC interworking patterns at Consett?

X30/(X70/X71) with X31 standalone?

I've heard that some routes and timetables may be altered whilst others might stay the same.

(04 Jul 2021, 1:00 pm)MurdnunoC wrote I've heard that some routes and timetables may be altered whilst others might stay the same.

Wouldn't be surprised if we see changes, GNE have had a few months where they've had a chance to look at numbers, and gives them an opportunity to change some routes, if numbers haven't returned because they need to make a profit or we'll see major cuts... which no one wants

That's the same for Stagecoach and Arriva.... wouldn't be surprised, if they'll be planning changes from around the same month.

(04 Jul 2021, 1:04 pm)Michael wrote That's the same for Stagecoach and Arriva.... wouldn't be surprised, if they'll be planning changes from around the same month.

Not going too off-topice - but yes, I understand Arriva's next set of service changes across the region will take place in September.

I wonder if we'll see any improvements to the X21, such as making it run to West Auckland in the evening or Sundays. Or, I wonder if GNE will just decide it's not worth it since it's just duplicating the Arriva 6 and pull the extension all together.

We might also see the extension of the 21 to Brandon if they haven't cancelled it completely.

(04 Jul 2021, 1:04 pm)Michael wrote      


Wouldn't be surprised if we see changes, GNE have had a few months where they've had a chance to look at numbers, and gives them an opportunity to change some routes, if numbers haven't returned because they need to make a profit or we'll see major cuts... which no one wants

That's the same for Stagecoach and Arriva.... wouldn't be surprised, if they'll be planning changes from around the same month.

It'd be daft to look at cutting services in September, when I don't think we'll see anywhere near a full return to office until the end of the year, but if that is the direction of travel then I'd like to see some of the resource reutilised on morning and evening services.

The £1 fare sounds like it's been somewhat of a success story, so more of the same would be nice.

(04 Jul 2021, 3:09 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I wonder if we'll see any improvements to the X21, such as making it run to West Auckland in the evening or Sundays. Or, I wonder if GNE will just decide it's not worth it since it's just duplicating the Arriva 6 and pull the extension all together.

We might also see the extension of the 21 to Brandon if they haven't cancelled it completely.

Hopefully also a revision to the timetable of the 21 to give it more layover, especially at Durham where it currently only gets 4 minutes. Since things have started to reopen and traffic levels have increased, the reliability has definitely suffered. Fine during lockdown but not so good if things are "normal" again.

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(04 Jul 2021, 3:11 pm)Adrian wrote It'd be daft to look at cutting services in September, when I don't think we'll see anywhere near a full return to office until the end of the year, but if that is the direction of travel then I'd like to see some of the resource reutilised on morning and evening services.

The £1 fare sounds like it's been somewhat of a success story, so more of the same would be nice.

I doubt the £1 fare will still be in place by then, EY have just introduced a similar fare and theirs is only until August

(04 Jul 2021, 3:17 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I doubt the £1 fare will still be in place by then, EY have just introduced a similar fare and theirs is only until August

I don't see why they'd get rid of it, there's other places across the country that have evening discounts like this, and have done for years. I don't know why they'd shoot themselves in the foot by scaring evening passengers back away.

(04 Jul 2021, 5:16 pm)deanmachine wrote I don't see why they'd get rid of it, there's other places across the country that have evening discounts like this, and have done for years. I don't know why they'd shoot themselves in the foot by scaring evening passengers back away.

Couldn't agree more. If its deemed as a success, then it would be mad to scrap it. Better to have some people riding round for cheap than to have buses carrying fresh air.

(04 Jul 2021, 5:34 pm)Adrian wrote Couldn't agree more. If its deemed as a success, then it would be mad to scrap it. Better to have some people riding round for cheap than to have buses carrying fresh air.

They introduced the evening individual and group tickets before covid which showed even then they were trying to do something to boost evening travel. If the single £1 fare also is helping to do that, there should be no reason to get rid of it.

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Sure Martijn said in one of his videos that the offer is creating more revenue than expected.

(04 Jul 2021, 6:11 pm)Rapidsnap wrote Sure Martijn said in one of his videos that the offer is creating more revenue than expected.

Even when they're charging punters 10p?!

(04 Jul 2021, 11:29 pm)Andreos1 wrote Even when they're charging punters 10p?!

Much like yourself, as a child of the 80s and 90s, 10p is a dud fare for me.

(04 Jul 2021, 11:29 pm)Andreos1 wrote Even when they're charging punters 10p?!

My daughter was charged similar. It showed up as 10p but by the time it cleared it was the correct fare.

(05 Jul 2021, 2:38 pm)Stanleyone wrote My daughter was charged similar. It showed up as 10p but by the time it cleared it was the correct fare.

Interesting.
Wonder what consumer legislation applies in this case? Receipt and phone imagary showing one thing and bank/card statement showing quite a significant difference percentage wise.

We need Martin Lewis on the case!

(05 Jul 2021, 6:05 pm)Andreos1 wrote Interesting.
Wonder what consumer legislation applies in this case? Receipt and phone imagary showing one thing and bank/card statement showing quite a significant difference percentage wise.

We need Martin Lewis on the case!

I'd imagine it's the same process as when you fill the car with petrol - they reserve a charge on your card (in the case of petrol higher than you spend) and it ringfences the funding and shows as pending on your account. 

People only notice because most banks have an app that shows how much you've spent (or apple/google play) otherwise in ye olden days you'd never see the 10p charge and only the final amount

(05 Jul 2021, 6:05 pm)Andreos1 wrote Interesting.
Wonder what consumer legislation applies in this case? Receipt and phone imagary showing one thing and bank/card statement showing quite a significant difference percentage wise.

We need Martin Lewis on the case!

We probably need Matt Allwright elsewhere in the Region too 

(06 Jul 2021, 8:40 am)Ambassador wrote I'd imagine it's the same process as when you fill the car with petrol - they reserve a charge on your card (in the case of petrol higher than you spend) and it ringfences the funding and shows as pending on your account. 

People only notice because most banks have an app that shows how much you've spent (or apple/google play) otherwise in ye olden days you'd never see the 10p charge and only the final amount

Why would they ringfence 10p and not the whole amount?
Petrol stations are ring-fencing £99 for potentially a £10 top up.

(06 Jul 2021, 8:57 am)Andreos1 wrote Why would they ringfence 10p and not the whole amount?
Petrol stations are ring-fencing £99 for potentially a £10 top up.

Only recently have they started doing that. It used to just be £1 to check if the card was active

(06 Jul 2021, 9:38 am)streetdeckfan wrote Only recently have they started doing that. It used to just be £1 to check if the card was active

Asda started a few years back. Quickly pulled it after a  backlash.
Costco have been doing it for a while too.

Either way, it makes sense to ringfence closer to the actual amount and not a difference of 90% as has been suggested could be the case at GNE Towers.

(06 Jul 2021, 9:56 am)Andreos1 wrote Asda started a few years back. Quickly pulled it after a  backlash.
Costco have been doing it for a while too.

Either way, it makes sense to ringfence closer to the actual amount and not a difference of 90% as has been suggested could be the case at GNE Towers.

Maybe I've been too slow in checking or it's a recent change, but I've always seen the full charge go onto my card pretty much straight away.

I'll be buying a day ticket later on so I'll double check

This is what appears/appeared with the £1 evening fare.

(06 Jul 2021, 11:23 am)Andreos1 wrote This is what appears/appeared with the £1 evening fare.

The same appears on all fares, it does with Arriva today, it's the pre-authorisation charge, they only reserve the amount to make sure the card is active, similar to online shopping from your supermarket etc - I'd assume it's to do with the nature of the ticketing/contactless set up that it takes a while to reconcile with your bank. 

The 10p doesn't ever really leave your account and within a few hours you should see the exact amount shown - thanks to the nature of live banking these days you notice it.

(06 Jul 2021, 1:18 pm)Ambassador wrote The same appears on all fares, it does with Arriva today, it's the pre-authorisation charge, they only reserve the amount to make sure the card is active, similar to online shopping from your supermarket etc - I'd assume it's to do with the nature of the ticketing/contactless set up that it takes a while to reconcile with your bank. 

The 10p doesn't ever really leave your account and within a few hours you should see the exact amount shown - thanks to the nature of live banking these days you notice it.

Ah. Interesting!
Was thinking there had been a big clanger dropped somewhere and they forgot to add an extra zero to the system.

Can confirm, both Arriva and GNE preauthorise 10p. 

Both tickets were bought within 10 minutes of each other about an hour ago, so I wonder how long it'll take for them to update