(18 Feb 2025, 4:42 pm)V514DFT wrote 5218, as in Wright Solar 5218?

No, t'was a typo. Can't remember the number now and bustimes hasn't helped. 
It was a 20/65 branded Streetlite.

Unless bustimes has lost its mind L&G coaches appear to be stepping in to help Washington with runs on the 84/85 with a 20 year old Paxton President

(19 Feb 2025, 11:45 am)Ambassador wrote Unless bustimes has lost its mind L&G coaches appear to be stepping in to help Washington with runs on the 84/85 with a 20 year old Paxton President

It's true

(19 Feb 2025, 12:18 pm)Aaron21 wrote It's true

Credit to them for taking action I guess…

A car has crashed in to 6161 (701) at the bus stop in front of the Chesters

Car has came out worse, police and Ambulances in attendence.

(18 Feb 2025, 9:00 pm)Andreos1 wrote No, t'was a typo. Can't remember the number now and bustimes hasn't helped. 
It was a 20/65 branded Streetlite.

5533 has had its windows put out tonight at the Barnes in Sunderland.

Took the bus for the first time in months—only the second time since Covid. My little one loves them, so I thought, why not? Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best start. The first journey was cancelled, and the second was running 30 minutes late, so I waited for the third bus instead.

We took the Xlines X5 to Durham and rode 6181, an ex-Lothian decker in Voyager livery. It seems like this bus was never intended for regular service—hence the seatbelts and lack of retrim—but all five of them now seem to be rotating between the Durham routes. Despite that, the driver was helpful, and the engine sounded beastly. However, the NSA (Next Stop Announcements) wasn’t working.
We made it as far as Witton Gilbert before breaking down due to an engine overheating issue. The driver mentioned he had just swapped onto this bus because his previous one had an overheat warning as well.

Luckily, the X20 arrived about five minutes later, so we hopped on board 6311. Externally, it looked better, but inside, the first thing I noticed was an overflowing bin at the top of the stairs. The seats have aged terribly, and the bus rattled the entire way to Durham. The NSA worked this time, and again, the driver was friendly.
After finishing up in Durham, I checked the app and saw that the next X5/X15 was cancelled, so we decided to take the 16 to Stanley instead. We rode 6185, another second-hand bus from Manchester. It looked like it had been refurbished when repainted and was noticeably cleaner than the previous two buses. It didn’t seem to have NSA, but overall, the journey was pleasant. I also noticed several other 16/16A services using more ex-Manchester B9s and even a Voyager-branded B9. Still, I’ve yet to see any of these "new and improved" Enviro 400s from London on the Durham Diamond. Seems like removing the hybrids hasn’t solved the reliability issues after all.

Finally, we waited for the 6 to Lanchester. Another friendly driver, but again, no working NSA. This time, we got 5413, a bus I used to ride frequently when I couldn't drive and relied on the Red Kite services. Surprisingly, this was the least worn-out bus of the day. The seats and poles were in excellent condition, the interior was very clean, and the wood-effect flooring has held up impressively well for a 10-year-old bus. A huge improvement over the other three. However, it struggled mechanically—barely making it up hills, feeling like it might roll backward at times, and generally lacking power. It really wasn’t fit for the inclines. The brakes also sounded quite worn—probably due for new pads.

Overall, GNE’s declining service is the reason I learned to drive back in 2014/15. There was a brief resurgence of better buses and improved care pre-Covid, but now, I wouldn’t even consider ditching the car for a simple trip to Durham from Lanchester. Reliability is still a major issue, and the buses themselves aren’t in great shape. Calling the X5/X15 an "XLINES" service feels like misleading branding—there’s nothing premium about it.
I really feel for the drivers, as they bear the brunt of public frustration. A bus is certainly better than no bus, but this attitude seems to have led to many routes deteriorating to this point without any real financial consequences. At this rate, they’re relying solely on those who can’t drive and older passengers, rather than making an effort to attract new customers.

Operational issue…

Honestly the comms are dreadful. Whether it’s internally, to stakeholders or the public. It’s either incompetence or ignorance

Pride of the fleet out on the 21 today.

Cowboy independent standard

Branded X10 looking forlorn on the A19 earlier. 

Fortunately, it had got itself on to an access road.

(19 Feb 2025, 11:45 am)Ambassador wrote Unless bustimes has lost its mind L&G coaches appear to be stepping in to help Washington with runs on the 84/85 with a 20 year old Paxton President

(19 Feb 2025, 12:18 pm)Aaron21 wrote It's true

Yep. I've seen L&G Coaches working the 85 for the last two days running! Are GNE that short of buses or drivers at the moment?

(26 Feb 2025, 6:30 pm)Washingtonian wrote Yep. I've seen L&G Coaches working the 85 for the last two days running! Are GNE that short of buses or drivers at the moment?

L&G employ a decent number of ex-Washington drivers who are probably covering the majority, if not all, of these turns.

Seen 6110 tearing it up the Coast Road in Lane 2 on the 1808 X39 ex Cobalt to NCL. Was struggling to catch it in my car. Always a testament how great these vehicles are!

(27 Feb 2025, 11:26 pm)L469 YVK wrote Seen 6110 tearing it up the Coast Road in Lane 2 on the 1808 X39 ex Cobalt to NCL. Was struggling to catch it in my car. Always a testament how great these vehicles are!

Waiting on your "wasted on coast road should be at Consett" paragraph ?

Meanwhile I had 6210 on X39 which kept dropping into limp mode and doesn't seem to be able to get above 40mph

(27 Feb 2025, 11:26 pm)L469 YVK wrote Seen 6110 tearing it up the Coast Road in Lane 2 on the 1808 X39 ex Cobalt to NCL. Was struggling to catch it in my car. Always a testament how great these vehicles are!

ngl it's fairly easy to overtake everyone on the coast road in a bus as people seem to drive painfully slow along there, 50 limit or not.

(28 Feb 2025, 3:37 pm)omnicity4659 wrote ngl it's fairly easy to overtake everyone on the coast road in a bus as people seem to drive painfully slow along there, 50 limit or not.

I was doing 70 and although was a good distance ahead, it took me a while to catch up. I think the driving seemed very full on too!

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(28 Feb 2025, 6:31 am)Aaron21 wrote Waiting on your "wasted on coast road should be at Consett" paragraph ?

Not exactly. GNE could have anything in mind what happens when the EV's arrive for the 21. It's in their hands at the end of the day, and other posters have suggested other good cascading alternatives too for the StreetDecks.

If anything, was more of an appreciation post. The B9TL (unless we're lucky to see the new Cummins powered Wright Ultroliner widely used in the North East), is the last of the truly 'heavy duty' vehicles we see around these days. Almost (but not quite) as good as a Leyland / Volvo Olympian or Metrobus for the modern era.

complaints on a local Consett local page that no buses left the Bus station for nearly a hour on any route today due to mass shortages.

even if it isnt factual the comments on the post from various customers speak of issues on various routes daily.

(28 Feb 2025, 10:35 pm)WestDurhamSwift wrote complaints on a local Consett local page that no buses left the Bus station for nearly a hour on any route today due to mass shortages.

even if it isnt factual the comments on the post from various customers speak of issues on various routes daily.

Would GNE not be better making some 'sensible' frequency reductions, to free up vehicles?

- 307/309 - Got Arriva's 306/308 and Nexus 350/351, could reduce frequency?
- X21 - Got Arriva's 6 & X21, reduce frequency?
- X31 - needed especially off peak? Got X30 & X32
- X66 - is 10 minute frequency needed during weekdays with 49/49A also running?
- 1 (Newcastle > W.Bay) is 20 minute service needed when got Stagecoach 22 and other alternatives?

Not saying go all out to make cuts like when there was driver shortages. But a bit of sensible trimming of routes could help out.

(01 Mar 2025, 8:26 am)L469 YVK wrote Would GNE not be better making some 'sensible' frequency reductions, to free up vehicles?

- 307/309 - Got Arriva's 306/308 and Nexus 350/351, could reduce frequency?
- X21 - Got Arriva's 6 & X21, reduce frequency?
- X31 - needed especially off peak? Got X30 & X32
- X66 - is 10 minute frequency needed during weekdays with 49/49A also running?
- 1 (Newcastle > W.Bay) is 20 minute service needed when got Stagecoach 22 and other alternatives?

Not saying go all out to make cuts like when there was driver shortages. But a bit of sensible trimming of routes could help out.

Surely the sensible routes would be the likes of the 4/20/21/33/41/41A/56/64/84/85 which are all very frequent and wouldn't be a real loss if slightly less frequent. I know some have BSIP funding but GNE shouldn't be getting the 21 funding anyway as they're missing boards all over the place.

(28 Feb 2025, 3:37 pm)omnicity4659 wrote ngl it's fairly easy to overtake everyone on the coast road in a bus as people seem to drive painfully slow along there, 50 limit or not.

The blanket ban on 50mph has now been lifted 

Although there is still 40 50 and nat speed limit in places

Nearly 2 months on and Washington is still a disaster zone.

What on earth is going on? They managed to sort Consett out relatively quickly

(01 Mar 2025, 1:01 pm)DeltaMan wrote Nearly 2 months on and Washington is still a disaster zone.

What on earth is going on? They managed to sort Consett out relatively quickly

It's an open question but have they actually sorted Consett? It's been half term the last week which means there's not as many vehicles needed which could easily hide the problems, similar story at Riverside aswell.

Think Washington only have 2 or 3 buses doing schools if I'm right

I wanted to catch the 16 on Wednesday so stalked it in the app for a couple of days to see how reliable it was and didn’t spot a single cancellation through the middle of the day.

Can’t say the same for the 50, which is why we went to Stanley instead of Washington for what we wanted.

Consett has only been decent this week as all the buses that would have been used on schools have been available for use on public service, which for the 16/A has made up the majority of the PVR most of the week. Expect it to go to pot again from Monday..

Im sure GNE have had a robust repair and engineering plan in place during the quieter school holiday period.

However, I did see a gritter out earlier so that will probably ruin everything…

4 branded Merc heading north on the A1 this evening. 
I passed it in the opposite direction, near Ferryhill. 

The last time I saw one in that neck of the woods, was when they were on delivery and I overtook a couple.

Had 6196 last night back to the Fell on the 21

Seemed to struggle to get above 25-30mph and driver was not thrilled. Seemed to run about 20 mins behind all day on its 5 runs