(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…