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(04 Dec 2024, 1:52 pm)L469 YVK wrote Sent NECA an Email regarding one of the Coast Road services. They've replied confirming a meeting is already planned with Arriva / GNE next week, discussing changes to timetables to help with reliability.
(14 Dec 2024, 1:27 pm)L469 YVK wrote Given the Metro disruption earlier (30 min gaps in service) and the unpredictability of the Coast Road past Corner House on a matchday.....got dropped of at the Silverlink and gave the 22 a try.
Can say having rode both the 307 and 22 and numerous debates and a few shout downs about it being a crazy idea....there wouldn't be a great deal in it if the 22 (or a variation) picked up Hadrian Park instead of the 307. Flew from Byker to Market Street no issues whatsoever!
Was only 35 minutes from the top of Churchill Street to Market Street after clearing the Silverlink.
Edit: according to BusTimes.org, was only 32 minutes from Willington Square to Market Street.
(14 Dec 2024, 8:42 pm)Aaron21 wrote Stop asking for thus. It's never gonna happen
(14 Dec 2024, 10:37 pm)L469 YVK wrote Come up with something a little more constructive than simply that! The whole point is that the 307 is having to effectively 'de-tour' in / out of Hadrian Park....one way in and one way out! Surely, this is rather inefficient?
The 309 is already constrained with timings. If GNE & NECA decide to re-route the 309 back via Selby Gardens, that's going to leave High Farm with 50 seats more per hour than pre 2014 (310 every 15 minutes with single deckers).....BUT not also forgetting that the 307 will also have to pick up what used to get picked up by the 57/58 in Hadrian Park.
Surely it would make more sense having a terminating service rather than a service having to effectively take a de-tour such as the 307.
22 (every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday / every 30 minutes evenings & Sundays) - Same route as now with evening & Sunday journeys serving Hadrian Park and additionally serving Cobalt during Sunday daytimes.
23 (every 20 minutes Monday to Saturday) - Same as 22 Throckley to Churchill Street then Hadrian Park.
(15 Dec 2024, 10:35 am)Storx wrote Even known I get your point that corridor imo Hadrian Park shouldn't be part of it and it should be something like after franchising which would remove all the duplicate services from the corridors (1/12/317) and create a clean 5 minute service combined plus a faster journey for those in Throckley:
22: Throckley - Lemington - Omit Newburn Business Park - Newcastle - Wallsend - Howden - 317 Route to North Shields - 1 Route to Whitley Bay (Every 20 Minutes)
23: Same Route as above - Howdon - Coniston Road - 1 Route to North Shields (Every 20 Minutes)
24: Combe Drive - Valley View - Union Hall Road - Newburn Business Park - 22 Route to Newcastle - 1 Route to Wallsend - 22 Route to Cobalt (Every 20 Minutes)
25: Winlaton - Blaydon - Scotswood Bridge - Same route as above to Wallsend - Holy Cross / Howdon Loop (Every 20 Minutes)
22/23/24/25: Every 5 Minutes combined on common sections.
N22: Newcastle - Wallsend - Howdon - 23 Route to North Shields - Tynemouth - Cullercoats - Whitley Bay (Every 30 Minute Night Bus)
The Howden end looking like this:
Pros:
More frequent combined service between Howdon and Scotswood Road (it needs it)
New links from North Shields Ferry to the Coast
New Newcastle links from the Holy Cross area
New Newcastle links from more parts of Lemington
More frequent service to Blaydon / Winlaton
Faster service to Throckley omitting Newburn Business Park
Removal of duplicate services.
Negatives:
PVR increase
No direct link to Gateshead
(15 Dec 2024, 11:14 am)L469 YVK wrote To be fair, that idea post franchising would be a good shout. Just be careful of the Howdon loop though as residents around Holy Cross will need access both to / from the shops and GP surgeries etc.
At the moment on a commercial basis though, Hadrian Park is an eye-sore and always has been. Really (other than evening & Sunday variations), it needs a service which can be terminated there and a 22/23 would fit the criteria. Plus not forgetting that any 'on paper' journey time increases over a Coast Road service, would be compensated by more reliable journeys with pretty much Byker Bridge to Newcastle being all bus lanes.
(17 Dec 2024, 10:53 pm)PH - BQA wrote Having experienced the Coast Road services today for the first time in a while, my experience was such that I felt the need to get home and immediately write a big 'the Coast Road needs Olympians again' suggestion post.
The 1503 308, which I had boarded, and the 1458 307 left Haymarket together at 1505. The 308 followed the 307 out, and stayed behind until the routes diverged at Battle Hill. The 308 was certainly a full seated load, I'm assuming with standees downstairs, and the 307 displayed 'Bus Full' from Northumbria Uni (though kept it displayed until Battle Hill at least, despite there definitely being seats available by the time it got there!).
The traffic out of Newcastle until the Corner House was the main reason for delays on the 308 in particular, it lost about 10 minutes through that section and despite the high passenger loadings only lost another 2 minutes overall (arriving into Blyth +12 according to Bustimes). We stopped at virtually every stop to either drop off or pick up, or both, but mostly only a couple at each. The bus didn't really start to empty, at least upstairs, until Whitley Bay/Seaton Sluice.
I'm aware it's been suggested countless times before, but I think an express version of the 308 would go a long way to helping the corridor, and provide a better experience to both those using it for shorter and longer trips. My thinking would be all stops between Blyth and Whitley Bay (Foxhunters) as the 308 currently is and then express to Newcastle via the A192 and A1058, serving only at Silverlink/Cobalt on the way.
Thinking is largely summarised by the following points:
- Express bus to Newcastle for those living in Seaton Sluice, and the parts of Whitley Bay which aren't close to the Metro
- Express bus to Silverlink/Cobalt all day from Newcastle
- Makes the corridor more appealing for those working/living along it, as journey times reduce and reliability should improve.
- Similar to the Durham corridor, allow the 306/7/8/9 to act like the 21, and the 'X38' to act like the X21. People who are travelling further enjoy some non-stop sections and better journey times, and those needing shorter hops still have that option without the bus being full of people going virtually end-to-end.
(17 Dec 2024, 11:47 pm)Storx wrote Not sure whether it's just a tracking error but checking tracking it appears there's been:
- 14:40 308 - Cancelled
- 14:45 309 - Started short at New York
- 14:50 306 - Cancelled
I used to live on that corridor around 10 year ago and that doesn't sound normal at that time of day so wouldn't be surprised if it's the case. The buses are generally very quiet beyond Whitley Bay normally (I live the next village across so always see them).
There's definitely no need for a 308, 309 and X38 beyond Whitley Bay, 3 BPH would be more than enough really, like it pretty much was (4 BPH) until the Cobalt Clipper came along.
(18 Dec 2024, 12:40 am)PH - BQA wrote The 14:30 306 left 10 mins late though, so there was (at most) a 15 minute gap between that leaving and the 14:58/15:03 307/308 starting to board passengers at 14:55. I thought I had saw something leaving in the direction of St. Mary's Place on my way into Haymarket at 14:50, but I may have been mistaken.
So, if there were missing runs, essentially in the 20 mins between 7507 leaving at 14:40, and the 307/308 leaving just after 15:00, enough passengers had accumulated to more than fill 2 deckers. Most of the ones headed in had decent loads too, and on my way back in the ones leaving looked just as busy.
I'm really not sure if 3 BPH is enough to be honest, that's slicing the frequency in half? Certainly the past few times over the past year where I've used the 308/309 they've had good loads on that section of the route, and to me they definitely justify the current frequency. That corridor is one which, for years, has been plagued by issues with congestion, the answer needs to be in improving the appeal of public transport (through quicker links, as an example) rather than slicing it and giving people yet more reasons to move to a car.
(05 Jan 2025, 10:52 pm)Storx wrote I know this is a bit of a different discussion but you always want to push Billy Mill, personally unless there's massive improvements for pedestrians crossing the Coast Road, I'd be trying to get as many buses off the Coast Road as possible and people getting on the buses elsewhere aka. faster services along Verne Road.
From someone who used to hang around Billy Mill as a kid, no-one wants to use the Subways along there if they can be avoided (we used to dash across the road instead).
https://www.google.com/maps/@55.0148187,...?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTIxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D - Going down stairs like that into the unknown is not pleasant, made even worse by grafitti with 'RIP' since you don't know who's hanging out down there.
It's a serious issue along there and affects around Selby Gardens and Chillingham Road aswell, I wouldn't be surprised if there's people who won't use the buses as a result or go the long way to avoid it (62/63). I certainly can't blame people for not wanting to.
1970's typical anti pedestrian planning and it badly needs work imo. The fact there's an anti pedestrian fence to stop people at Battle Hill sums up it's a problem.
(06 Jan 2025, 1:44 pm)L469 YVK wrote This is actually a very good point!
Not to say that Billy Mill doesn't do well commercially. I wonder how many people cross from either side of the Coast Road though (using the Subway or other means) to catch the 306/308 currently.
Would be interesting if local surveys were conducted.
(26 Nov 2025, 9:47 pm)L469 YVK wrote If rumor is true about GNE pulling put of the Coast Road agreement and remain at their 10 minute frequency - I hope Arriva go full pelt and reduce GNE to a full mickey mouse operation running around on StreetLites - back to the days when GNE were the underdogs with the 300/305 running Excel's and SPD's against Arriva's respected and time standing 306 & 308 services.
It wasn't too long back when GNE were at the begging bowl and cutting back the evening 309 & 310 services with later journeys curtailed!
I hope Arriva literally throw everything they've got and go back to a full pre-covid service including a full evening & Sunday service on both routes!
(26 Nov 2025, 11:50 pm)L469 YVK wrote Or maybe GNE do something like the following with no PVR change:
- 309 every 15 mins Ncl > Cobalt but reduced to every 30 minutes between Cobalt and Blyth
- 310 re-introduced every 30 minutes with Hadrian Park covered by the 311
- 311 reintroduced every 30 minutes to Hadrian Park
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(27 Nov 2025, 7:29 am)tyresmoke wrote It was posted that GNE were wanting to make savings. That means the PVR is going down, no two ways about it.
(27 Nov 2025, 7:29 am)tyresmoke wrote It was posted that GNE were wanting to make savings. That means the PVR is going down, no two ways about it.
(27 Nov 2025, 3:43 pm)Adrian wrote If they were wanting to reduce PVR, you'd assume the Coast Road would be the last place they'd look. They wouldn't have fought so hard over it for years if it wasn't a cash cow.
As short-sighted as it may seem, perhaps a vision of further reducing their property portfolio as we head towards NE-wide franchising?
(27 Nov 2025, 4:22 pm)L469 YVK wrote If anything, I think GNE want to better utilise resource - including integrating the X39 workings into the main PVR and given that Arriva are a bit on ropey ground vehicle wise (reducting ability to counteract) - maybe increase core frequency Battle Hill to Newcastle.
(27 Nov 2025, 7:36 pm)PH - BQA wrote Arriva literally have an order in for 31 new deckers, which is public knowledge - if the opportunity arose I'm sure they'd be minded to redistribute those to 'take over' on the Coast Road. They're in a far better position than GNE in that regard.
If GNE really wanted to utilise resource better, then they'd look at why they're parking up a bus in Blyth for 25 minutes each trip.
(27 Nov 2025, 3:43 pm)Adrian wrote If they were wanting to reduce PVR, you'd assume the Coast Road would be the last place they'd look. They wouldn't have fought so hard over it for years if it wasn't a cash cow.
As short-sighted as it may seem, perhaps a vision of further reducing their property portfolio as we head towards NE-wide franchising?
(28 Nov 2025, 3:22 am)V514DFT wrote If the PVR is going down, whats the betting its the 307 that gets the brunt of it, like every half hour to Cobalt South, hourly to Shields, real kick in the teeth if its your only bus to Shields (me included), and the 309 will go half hourly, thats my prediction, 307/309 are crashing, and crashing hard man, its gone from frequent and warranting double deckers, to (potentially) being reduced further, and at times feels like double deckers are overkill
