(Today, 9:39 am)Storx wrote I'd rather have Gateshead Taxis running the service over Arriva or GoNorthEast. 

Their buses are newer, the drivers are friendly and they actually run their services because the bus isn't sitting in a lay-by, if they have one at all.

Not sure about that! On the whole they do well on the 350/351 but are let down by only one or two drivers. A couple have refused to sell TNE day tickets and we’ve been told they don’t sell them. Another one was when we had visitors from Devon and the driver refused to accept their ENCTS passes as they didn’t accept them on their buses. I complained to NEXUS and to be fair they seem have approached GCT and far as TNE tickets are concerned things seem to have improved!

(Today, 9:39 am)Storx wrote I'd rather have Gateshead Taxis running the service over Arriva or GoNorthEast. 

Their buses are newer, the drivers are friendly and they actually run their services because the bus isn't sitting in a lay-by, if they have one at all.

Friendly drivers on GCT. You must have got lucky. Times I've used GCT I've found them incredibly unprofessional and their driving standards close to dangerous.

(10 hours ago)Shrek wrote Friendly drivers on GCT. You must have got lucky. Times I've used GCT I've found them incredibly unprofessional and their driving standards close to dangerous.

When GCT had 342 drivers always made an effort to get to know their regular passengers. Always very friendly. A complete contrast to GNE where I never see the same driver twice.

(Today, 9:39 am)Storx wrote I'd rather have Gateshead Taxis running the service over Arriva or GoNorthEast. 

Their buses are newer, the drivers are friendly and they actually run their services because the bus isn't sitting in a lay-by, if they have one at all.

The Arriva hate trend is unreal and I don't understand why. An old bus is better than no bus at all. I lived in Cowpen for abit and excluding school rush hours, I rarely had an issue with buses not turning up or being late. Stagecoach and Gateshead Central are definetley worse for buses being late.

Also, all of Gateshead Central's buses are tiny and not suitable for rush hour, their destination screens aren't programmed properly and a great deal of them don't even display a route number. The 335's via point over laps the route number. The 653's destination screen is in a very small slim font where it's very difficult to read.

If you read posts above, they've been in trouble for running a literal van on their 71. 

Companies should put comfort and professionality before the age of buses.

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(7 hours ago)Coastliner700 wrote When GCT had 342 drivers always made an effort to get to know their regular passengers. Always very friendly. A complete contrast to GNE where I never see the same driver twice.

GCT drivers are rarely nice. They still have an issue with the U22 tickets. I had one call the police on me because he tried telling me the £3 U22 tickets "didn't exist" and I obviously argued my case so I refused to get off until he sold me the ticket. Police then removed me and when I reported him to the company and threatened them with legal action, GCT then told me they would prosecute me for recording the incident on my phone. They're a cowboy company and always have been

(Today, 9:39 am)Storx wrote I'd rather have Gateshead Taxis running the service over Arriva or GoNorthEast. 

Their buses are newer, the drivers are friendly and they actually run their services because the bus isn't sitting in a lay-by, if they have one at all.

They are by far the worst independent company I've ever used.

If you look at the likes of Northstar, Stanley, Weardale..they can be a little rough round the edges, but they clearly care about what they do and go the extra mile.

Central do not give an F and just appear to want to do the absolute minimum.

Just my experience personally. Never had issue with any GCT drivers. I don't know how they do rotas but maybe different routes have different drivers but the 19 lot are always friendly.

The 57/57A in comparison is a complete shambles - short Solos which aren't fit for purpose and that's if they bother to turn up at all, and the drivers are a complete mixed bag aswell.

There's a lot of people in Seghill who just go for the 19 now as it's more reliable and it's an either/or because it's opposite sites of the road.

Also not sure why GCT are getting bashed for buses not turning up GoNorthEast at multiple depots and Arriva at Stockton, Redcar and Ashington have been a shambles for ages now.