I've noticed a few issues with the bus station at the Galleries:

• Stands can quite busy at certain times
  
• Big Nexus Destination Boards suck on showing departures around 13:15ish (Pre GNE Sep Changes as well)
  
• Escalators seem to break easily
  

(09 Oct 2021, 4:06 pm)ASX_Terranova wrote I've noticed a few issues with the bus station at the Galleries:

• Stands can quite busy at certain times
  
• Big Nexus Destination Boards suck on showing departures around 13:15ish (Pre GNE Sep Changes as well)
  
• Escalators seem to break easily
  

It’s always had issues with the stands even before the bus station got refurbished many moons ago.

Don’t get me started with those crappy stupid big destination displays, can’t believe nexus got a award from them when there first got installed, it’s just one big screen as passengers can’t be bothered to look at a timetable or look at the board at the bus stand, it would be worthy of a award if the big board actually showed useful information of how late the bus will be be instead of the small board at the bus stand scrolling to the next service departure on the stand


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The big departure boards have never worked correctly for years. I've lost count of the number of times I've reported it to Nexus, for it not to be fixed. If they cannot/won't fix them, then they should be switched off or removed.

Stands are usually not too bad in my experience, but you get a bit of a bottleneck when two buses pull in to stand A or D together. They should have really had a second set of doors installed for each of those stands, or the operators should instruct drivers to use the drop-off stands correctly to avoid bottlenecking. The drop-off stands are more used for driver changeovers than anything else, despite the huge island at the other side of the bus station available for that purpose.

The general maintenance of the bus station is a problem, but that goes for the shopping centre too. The owners have spent a lot refurbishing/redeveloping it, but general upkeep such as cleaning and fixing leaking roofs, seems to be left as a problem.

(09 Oct 2021, 8:49 pm)Adrian wrote The big departure boards have never worked correctly for years. I've lost count of the number of times I've reported it to Nexus, for it not to be fixed. If they cannot/won't fix them, then they should be switched off or removed.

Stands are usually not too bad in my experience, but you get a bit of a bottleneck when two buses pull in to stand A or D together. They should have really had a second set of doors installed for each of those stands, or the operators should instruct drivers to use the drop-off stands correctly to avoid bottlenecking. The drop-off stands are more used for driver changeovers than anything else, despite the huge island at the other side of the bus station available for that purpose.

The general maintenance of the bus station is a problem, but that goes for the shopping centre too. The owners have spent a lot refurbishing/redeveloping it, but general upkeep such as cleaning and fixing leaking roofs, seems to be left as a problem.

Main problem I'd say is the X1 & 4 as they are usually at Washington Galleries at the same time

(09 Oct 2021, 9:42 pm)Train8261 wrote Main problem I'd say is the X1 & 4 as they are usually at Washington Galleries at the same time

That was originally (and maybe still) deliberate, as it allowed for quick connections to Newcastle on the X1 with the 4 acting as a feeder.

It just doesn't work properly in practice and ends up in a bottleneck.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

(10 Oct 2021, 12:06 am)Adrian wrote That was originally (and maybe still) deliberate, as it allowed for quick connections to Newcastle on the X1 with the 4 acting as a feeder. 

It just doesn't work properly in practice and ends up in a bottleneck.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

The irony being that they failed to take in to account the number of people making the change at Houghton or Shiney.
Particularly for those living on the southern portion of the route. 
It can be far quicker and you're more likely to get a seat of choice, rather than join the masses at the galleries.

(10 Oct 2021, 10:12 am)Andreos1 wrote The irony being that they failed to take in to account the number of people making the change at Houghton or Shiney.
Particularly for those living on the southern portion of the route. 
It can be far quicker and you're more likely to get a seat of choice, rather than join the masses at the galleries.

Washington Galleries, Shiney Row and Houghton Le Spring are the times I've been on both buses and both have gotten the most people at that stop

(10 Oct 2021, 10:19 am)Train8261 wrote Washington Galleries, Shiney Row and Houghton Le Spring are the times I've been on both buses and both have gotten the most people at that stop

Operators can try to channel customers down a particular funnel as much as they want and there will be some impact on passenger habits.
However, when it comes to encouraging passengers on the 4/X1 to change at the Galleries, when there are other points that allow for a quicker or more convenient journey - then I'm not convinced there will be that much success.

That half hour it can take on the 4 to the Galleries and then 30/35 mins from there to Newcastle vs 5/10mins to Houghton then 45 mins from Houghton isn't likely to garner much debate for a regular commuter.
Ditto the 5/10 mins to Shiney and the 35mins from there once the change has been made on the X1. 
Even when you take in to account connection times.