(23 Dec 2014, 8:09 pm)Dan wrote There's not a huge difference in Monday - Friday and Saturday operations really... This is not unique to Stagecoach, it's the same for each of the big three (at least in T&W).

A few earlier/later journeys which probably won't even be used much on Christmas Eve anyway...

We run 1/2 instead of 3/4/7/8 and economic services start later

(23 Dec 2014, 8:13 pm)mrnut85 wrote We run 1/2 instead of 3/4/7/8 and economic services start later

Yeah, I've been meaning to try and get a photo of the 1 and 2 for a few months now since I spotted them in the timetable, but never been able to drag myself out of bed to get to Shields early enough haha.

The 1/2 aren't massively different to the daytime services though, are they? Thought it was just a case of an additional stop somewhere along the line, but I'm not really familiar with the services to begin with...

(23 Dec 2014, 8:19 pm)Dan wrote Yeah, I've been meaning to try and get a photo of the 1 and 2 for a few months now since I spotted them in the timetable, but never been able to drag myself out of bed to get to Shields early enough haha.

The 1/2 aren't massively different to the daytime services though, are they? Thought it was just a case of an additional stop somewhere along the line, but I'm not really familiar with the services to begin with...

It's a mix of several routes with less running time lol

(23 Dec 2014, 8:13 pm)mrnut85 wrote We run 1/2 instead of 3/4/7/8 and economic services start later

Since the changes at the end of November, Saturdays on Teesside see a reduced service level with reduced frequencies until mid/late morning (36/37/38 don't reach the 7 1/2 minutes normal until 11am). Anyone working along Portrack Lane living in Stockton have a nice 1hr 45 minutes gap between the last short 13 (the old 39s) and the first full trip.

Been busy so forgot to mention 23 was regulated around 2pm yesterday. Waited 30 mins for one whilst two normal allocations went past not in service.

Imagine this was across the board as when I got the e2 from Seaburn station to Chichester someone said they waited for 30 mins for it. Unsure if that comment was true but bus driver was told not to operate in market in Shields on the radio.

Several more MAN ALX300s have been noted in a scrap yard in the Barnsley area - presumably Trevor Wigleys or A.H. Hardwick.

22465 (T465 BNL)
22470 (T470 BNL)
22482 (T482 BNL)
22483 (T483 BNL)
22660 (T660 OEF)
22660 (T660 OEF) 2
Untitled 1
Untitled 2

Images owned by Flickr user "Stan-Butler".

(24 Dec 2014, 11:55 am)AIG20 wrote Several more MAN ALX300s have been noted in a scrap yard in the Barnsley area - presumably Trevor Wigleys or A.H. Hardwick.

22465 (T465 BNL)
22470 (T470 BNL)
22482 (T482 BNL)
22483 (T483 BNL)
22660 (T660 OEF)
22660 (T660 OEF) 2
Untitled 1
Untitled 2

Images owned by Flickr user "Stan-Butler".

Crikey, I am feeling really old now, I remember driving 22660 when it was less than a year old!! 

Following comments of comparison between Go North East's 21 and Stagecoach North East's 40/41, and how the latter seems to successfully operate on-time instead of frequently bunching up in twos like the Angel, might I point out that at 1200, there was four 40s at Wallsend Interchange, and just five minutes ago there was another three all together?

Granted Christmas won't be helping in the slightest, but it's not just the 21 which suffers delays!

(24 Dec 2014, 12:48 pm)Dan wrote Following comments of comparison between Go North East's 21 and Stagecoach North East's 40/41, and how the latter seems to successfully operate on-time instead of frequently bunching up in twos like the Angel, might I point out that at 1200, there was four 40s at Wallsend Interchange, and just five minutes ago there was another three all together?

Granted Christmas won't be helping in the slightest, but it's not just the 21 which suffers delays!

It seems most services with a frequency of 10 minutes or better seems to have bunching up, it also often happens on the likes of the 2/11 in Darlington, it only takes a large number of passengers wanting that one bus or hitting traffic such as lots of traffic lights on red.

The Christmas traffic won't be helping though, Arriva's Teesside services have been all over the place judging from comments on here and posts on Arriva's Facebook.

Exactly. The problem is not unique to one service.

Add the 39 (not the 41 as I said earlier - can tell I've been taking photos of GNE's 40/41 at Wallsend) into the mix and you've got yourself a group of five buse (one behind me too)...

Water works on Borough Road – affecting Services 10 and 11

During Sunday 11 and Monday 12 January 2015, Sunderland City Council will need to temporally close Borough Road to eastbound traffic.

Last Updated: 23 December 2014 6:08 PM

This temporary closure is to enable works to take place to a sewer located in the Fawcett Street/ Borough Road/ Holmeside/ Burdon Road junction.

The eastbound traffic movement into Borough Road is expected to be closed between 0800 and 1800 during both Sunday 11 and Monday 12 January 2015.

During periods of the closure, Services 10 and 11 will be unable to access their normal bus stop on Borough Road. These services will instead temporarily observe bus stop “S22”, which is the first stop at the bottom end of Fawcett Street.

All other services in the area - including westbound Service 10 and 11 - will be able to follow normal routes, although all services may potentially be delayed due to the presence of temporary traffic signals.

Clearly, whilst we will be endeavouring to operate all services in accordance with their published timetables, as well as continuing to liaise with our colleagues at Sunderland City Council to mitigate any problems, due to the increased mileage required to operate via the diversionary route, there is the potential that some trips may be subject to localised delays.

Stagecoach would like to apologise for any inconvenience these works authorised by Sunderland City Council may cause, and we remain grateful for customers’ patience and understanding.

Services Affected: 10, 11

Originally Posted: 23 December 2014 6:08 PM

Hi Dan. Have A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year For 2015. Regards Robin

(24 Dec 2014, 1:12 pm)Dan wrote Exactly. The problem is not unique to one service.

Add the 39 (not the 41 as I said earlier - can tell I've been taking photos of GNE's 40/41 at Wallsend) into the mix and you've got yourself a group of five buse (one behind me too)...

Happens on all frequent services like you say.
We had all 6 7s together heading for Yarm on Monday that's a new record even for 7s

Just had to pay £15 in taxis! It's the 21st century should be some sort of skeleton service today!

(25 Dec 2014, 1:56 pm)idiot wrote Just had to pay £15 in taxis! It's the 21st century should be some sort of skeleton service today!

No there shouldn't is's Christmas Day.

(25 Dec 2014, 1:56 pm)idiot wrote Just had to pay £15 in taxis! It's the 21st century should be some sort of skeleton service today!

Be lucky you managed to find a taxi willing to pick you up today.

Could you imagine how much you'd have to pay bus drivers to work Christmas day, it's probably tricky enough to get them to work boxing day and I imagine the demand for a bus service on Christmas day is almost non existent so they would be running at major loss.

Would like to see some more buses on boxing day, especially from Arriva who provide no services at present.

(25 Dec 2014, 2:45 pm)Jimmi wrote Be lucky you managed to find a taxi willing to pick you up today.

Could you imagine how much you'd have to pay bus drivers to work Christmas day, it's probably tricky enough to get them to work boxing day and I imagine the demand for a bus service on Christmas day is almost non existent so they would be running at major loss.

Would like to see some more buses on boxing day, especially from Arriva who provide no services at present.

Hit the nail on the head, here.

I went out last night to Park Lane for a photo of an odd working, and must have seen at least 15 buses between 18:00 and 18:30, and not a single bus had more than three passengers on-board. I shared the 9 (double deck allocation) from Stadium of Light to Park Lane with just one inebriated man, and it left with nobody... Almost every 'E' service I saw carried nothing but fresh air, too.

Whether it's because people have gotten used to having a relatively poor service over the festive period or simply because the demand is not there, buses are running around empty as it is and it's not feasible for bus operators to run a normal weekday service over this period.

(25 Dec 2014, 3:04 pm)Dan wrote Hit the nail on the head, here.

I went out last night to Park Lane for a photo of an odd working, and must have seen at least 15 buses between 18:00 and 18:30, and not a single bus had more than three passengers on-board. I shared the 9 (double deck allocation) from Stadium of Light to Park Lane with just one inebriated man, and it left with nobody... Almost every 'E' service I saw carried nothing but fresh air, too.

Whether it's because people have gotten used to having a relatively poor service over the festive period or simply because the demand is not there, buses are running around empty as it is and it's not feasible for bus operators to run a normal weekday service over this period.

I think the demand just isn't there, as I'm sure many including myself didn't venture out yesterday because they don't want the hassle of going to the shops. The 1/X1 passes my home and the loadings throughout yesterday were much lower than earlier in the week or a normal Saturday and at least one Pulsar on the 1 was replaced by a Solo before 5pm, as there was no need for the capacity.
However I have seen quite a few taxis working today including a Stanley travel minibus in Darlington.

U couldn't move in the buses during the day. I think everyone likes to get home before 530pm in case they get stuck. Regardless bus drivers have a job to serve the public. U may get one extra day on a 7 day ticket but that onky compensates Xmas day and not lack of service Xmas eve and boxing day

(25 Dec 2014, 6:44 pm)idiot wrote U couldn't move in the buses during the day. I think everyone likes to get home before 530pm in case they get  stuck. Regardless bus drivers have a job to serve the public. U may get one extra day on a 7 day ticket but that onky compensates Xmas day and not lack of service Xmas eve and boxing day

Once again the clue is in the title name...

(25 Dec 2014, 6:44 pm)idiot wrote U couldn't move in the buses during the day. I think everyone likes to get home before 530pm in case they get  stuck. Regardless bus drivers have a job to serve the public. U may get one extra day on a 7 day ticket but that onky compensates Xmas day and not lack of service Xmas eve and boxing day

If you were to read the small print regarding megariders, it clearly states that passengers are given 2 extra days for Christmas and 1 extra for new years. If you really need to be in the thick of it during the Christmas Eve rush hour shopping then you need to get your finger out sooner. During Christmas eve, the biggest issue wasn't the passenger numbers but other traffic either waiting in a queue for some type of bargain or parking in the most rediculous parking place thus blocking us from getting past or dropping off passengers. e.g. Maxwells corner opposite Argos in Stockton on the bend going out of town....REALLY And that doesn't include the near misses of stupid pedestrians walking out in front of you. ( mostly pensioners ) As drivers WE TAKE NOTE.

(25 Dec 2014, 7:32 pm)bertibassett wrote If you really need to be in the thick of it during the Christmas Eve rush hour shopping then you need to get your finger out sooner. During Christmas eve, the biggest issue wasn't the passenger numbers but other traffic either waiting in a queue for some type of bargain or parking in the most rediculous parking place thus blocking us from getting past or dropping off passengers. e.g. Maxwells corner opposite Argos in Stockton on the bend going out of town....REALLY And that doesn't include the near misses of stupid pedestrians walking out in front of you. ( mostly pensioners ) As drivers WE TAKE NOTE.

I'm not surprised so many people get run down by buses in Stockton, I got the X66 to Middlesbrough on Tuesday and at the North end stop on the High Street people kept running in front of the bus as it was about to leave so they could get on the bus. Then on the journey back to Darlington the bus nearly knocked some people down outside Interiors who were just in their own world and walking really slowly.

(25 Dec 2014, 4:19 pm)John_R wrote I think the demand just isn't there, as I'm sure many including myself didn't venture out yesterday because they don't want the hassle of going to the shops. The 1/X1 passes my home and the loadings throughout yesterday were much lower than earlier in the week or a normal Saturday and at least one Pulsar on the 1 was replaced by a Solo before 5pm, as there was no need for the capacity.
However I have seen quite a few taxis working today including a Stanley travel minibus in Darlington.

I worked the 1740 X5 from Middlesbrough last night and only had 1 passenger from there to Loftus, nobody else. Complete waste of time. The 5 at 1750 behind me only had 3 people too.

Any ideas?

Stagecoach North East 36464 NK61 ECD - South Anston by J P T Photos, on Flickr

(27 Dec 2014, 9:09 pm)Dan wrote Any ideas?

Stagecoach North East 36464 NK61 ECD -  South Anston by J P T Photos, on Flickr

Demo maybe?

(27 Dec 2014, 9:09 pm)Dan wrote Any ideas?

Stagecoach North East 36464 NK61 ECD - South Anston by J P T Photos, on Flickr

Presumably at Plaxton for repairs

There's a Plaxton site in North Anston.

(27 Dec 2014, 9:36 pm)John_R wrote Presumably at Plaxton for repairs

It's at Plaxton for repairs, all our 36XXX are having work done with most already done

(28 Dec 2014, 9:43 am)mrnut85 wrote It's at Plaxton for repairs, all our 36XXX are having work done with most already done

36478 sounds terrible whilst accelerating as it makes a horrible screaming noise that can be heard from quite a distance - which I assume is a turbo issue. Hopefully this issue, which it has had for quite a while, will be sorted when it visits Plaxton.

(28 Dec 2014, 12:07 pm)AIG20 wrote 36478 sounds terrible whilst accelerating as it makes a horrible screaming noise that can be heard from quite a distance - which I assume is a turbo issue. Hopefully this issue, which it has had for quite a while, will be sorted when it visits Plaxton.

Plaxton don't do any engine work