(10 Jun 2022, 7:58 pm)BusLoverMum wrote I suspect there will be some imminent increases “due to the rising cost of fuel”.

Which would go against the grain, because they hedged their group fuel and saved approx. £10m last year in fuel costs versus the year prior.

According to their own reports year ending 2021:

 
Fuel During the year, Bus required around 135 million litres of fuel, with a net cost of £89.4m. (2020: 135 million litres of fuel, with a net cost of £98.3m). Fuel costs and the cost per litre were lower in the year due to lower market rates for fuel as preferable hedging prices were obtained in the prior year, in particular during the final quarter of the 2020 financial year as market rates dropped.  

 

It's not stopped them before and pointing the finger at fuel costs mind.

This is MG's last week at GNE.

(22 Aug 2022, 8:42 pm)Unber43 wrote This is MG's last week at GNE.

I suggest we all go to Microbus to celebrate

(23 Aug 2022, 11:45 am)Aaron21 wrote I suggest we all go to Microbus to celebrate

Please do. It's a decent local business that is well worth supporting.

(23 Aug 2022, 11:45 am)Aaron21 wrote I suggest we all go to Microbus to celebrate

Yeah, only if we can find out what his favourite tipple is and, somehow, persuade the bartender to make him wait 45 minutes between ordering and being served, only to find his drink has been cancelled due to staff shortages.

(23 Aug 2022, 12:27 pm)Adrian wrote Please do. It's a decent local business that is well worth supporting.

I need a bus service to get there. Is there a stop close enough to it

(23 Aug 2022, 1:01 pm)Aaron21 wrote I need a bus service to get there. Is there a stop close enough to it

Only in one direction.

(23 Aug 2022, 1:46 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Only in one direction.

is there no bus stop on hill street or askew road where the bus lane is?

(23 Aug 2022, 4:24 pm)Rob44 wrote is there no bus stop on hill street or askew road where the bus lane is?

There is but it’s closed at the moment while the council improve the paving and stop

(23 Aug 2022, 4:39 pm)Ambassador wrote There is but it’s closed at the moment while the council improve the paving and stop

 ah right no temporary one?  Im sure someone got off there on the way to the match on sunday?

(23 Aug 2022, 1:01 pm)Aaron21 wrote I need a bus service to get there. Is there a stop close enough to it

Listen to the NSAs for the fictional Railway Quarter.

(23 Aug 2022, 4:52 pm)Rob44 wrote  ah right no temporary one?  Im sure someone got off there on the way to the match on sunday?

pretty much every driver is still stopping at either set of lights though no official temp stop.

(23 Aug 2022, 12:27 pm)Adrian wrote Please do. It's a decent local business that is well worth supporting.

Totally agree, I was in there the other day.

While he might be leaving Go North East for pastures new this week, rumour has it that, based upon his starring role in the Voltra film in 2020, Martijn Gilbert is currently auditioning for a role in the Sayers Family biopic currently being cast in Newcastle...

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/nor...l-24829882

(23 Aug 2022, 7:03 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Listen to the NSAs for the fictional Railway Quarter.

Apparently if you listen more closely, and you can almost hear the meltdown on this forum in the background.  

(24 Aug 2022, 8:20 am)RMF1254 wrote Totally agree, I was in there the other day.

I've been in a couple of times, but hadn't even heard of it since it appeared on here. Great range and the staff are really knowledgeable about what they're serving.

His legacy will be…helped grow the fortunes of a small local pub in a railway quarter that doesn’t actually exist and made enthusiasts very very happy.

Absolutely screwed up the running a bus side of things before he was push….erm found a new opportunity. Can’t help but think when it comes to past glories and his CV that ‘running the loss making embarrassment of the Go Ahead empire’ will be in a smaller font, perhaps even Arial size 8 in italics.

I wish him luck at lumo, it’s a solid product and does what it says on the tin, it really needs no tinkering.

(24 Aug 2022, 9:45 pm)Ambassador wrote His legacy will be…helped grow the fortunes of a small local pub in a railway quarter that doesn’t actually exist and made enthusiasts very very happy.

Absolutely screwed up the running a bus side of things before he was push….erm found a new opportunity.  Can’t help but think  when it comes to past glories and his CV that ‘running the loss making embarrassment of the Go Ahead empire’ will be in a smaller font, perhaps even Arial size 8 in italics.

I wish him luck at lumo, it’s a solid product and does what it says on the tin, it really needs no tinkering.

THe only thing imo which it needs is more earlier and later services. I think the first one gets into London around 10/11am which is pretty useless for people commuting for work etc. 

There should be some going direct from Edinburgh/Newcastle Non-Stop to London to be there for 8:20/10:20/12:20 etc every 2 hours. I think it would make it more appealing, a higher frequency would definitely make me use it more, if ever if I was ever to go to London currently I would use LNER. 

But leaking about MG, I do wish him well, he's always been someone to drive (whether that was 1-4 times or more) he always did, he was always quite active on social media helping people which is great. Personally I was a massive fan of MG untill after the main pandemic was over, all Frequencies were cut, the massive Sept which I thought were good, then clearly nothing of that stuck, including the drivers shortage, then the replacement of all Sunderland fleet with buses 6 years older and no real investment or adapting (35 & 55) no real investment. Then the constant flip flop of wrong allocations, buses changing paint as nothing could stick, the baffling situation at consett, service frequency halved. 

Then came the July 24th when we all thought it was over this is what GNE needed, after reassurance of driver shortage being lessened that didn't happen, GNE won61 contrats including a PVR 23 bus, then Sept 3rd Changes, frequency was halved/reduced on busy routes, route temp cancelled. Temp reductions. How many of these will be permanent Any good faith including myself I had in MG had been soured, like Ambassador said I do wish him the best, he is a great person. 

One word to describe GNE over the past 12 months, Shambles.

(24 Aug 2022, 10:11 pm)Unber43 wrote THe only thing imo which it needs is more earlier and later services. I think the first one gets into London around 10/11am which is pretty useless for people commuting for work etc. 

There should be some going direct from Edinburgh/Newcastle Non-Stop to London to be there for 8:20/10:20/12:20 etc every 2 hours. I think it would make it more appealing, a higher frequency would definitely make me use it more, if ever if I was ever to go to London currently I would use LNER. 

Lumo are limited by the paths granted by Network Rail and the ORR, they also have to work around having 4 trains in service at any one time. At the moment it will be outside of Martijn's control but I'd imagine he'd have a say in any future timetable recast.

Lumo already provide an early morning service from London with LNER providing them from Edinburgh and Newcastle with the Flying Scotsman service. Lumo also provide services to London and Edinburgh that arrive close to 1am.

There's usually a choice between Lumo and LNER with them chasing each other up and down the ECML. With advance tickets you aren't tied to only one operator to get you there and back, so surely if Lumo were running a train at the time you searched for, for less than LNER, you'd book yourself on it?

And he’s gone.

https://twitter.com/nemartijn/status/1563277781408305153?s=21&t=VIoWqhr5fl83H5l4gFZzsw

Have they announced who got the Area Director role reporting into Featham?