Go Ahead expansions and service changes

tbtc · 6 May 2019

Now that Go Ahead are expanding into "Lancashire"/ "Yorkshire" (with the purchase of EYMS and some of First Group's Manchester operations), plus Swindon a couple of years ago, to add to their mixture of operations from Tyneside to the south coast, some of which aren't necessarily worthy of a stand-alone thread, I thought I'd start a "general" thread for them, like the First/ Stagecoach ones.

For example, service changes around Newcastle/ Sunderland (http://newsroom.gonortheast.co.uk/news/service-changes-from-19-may-366066) see...

the withdrawal of the cross-Sunderland 36 (replaced by diverting the current X5 - renumbered 55 - via Silksworth, and adjustments to other services)
the Tyneside 11 goes back to what it once was (Whitley Bay - Wallsend), with the 1 extended from Gateshead to the Metro Centre to cover it (previously the 96 over this section of route?)
the Durham - Sunderland service remains seven buses per hour but alters from "6xslow + 1xfast" to "5xslow + 2xfast"
the Bishop Auckland "local" service (18) replaced by an extended X24 (from what I understand of Bishop Auckland it's one of those places where the old "town" services are now generally replaced by extensions/diversions of Arriva services to Durham/ Darlington etc)

....looks to be a general cut in PVR.

RailUK Forums

NewcastleOne · 6 May 2019

tbtc said:
Now that Go Ahead are expanding into "Lancashire"/ "Yorkshire" (with the purchase of EYMS and some of First Group's Manchester operations), plus Swindon a couple of years ago, to add to their mixture of operations from Tyneside to the south coast, some of which aren't necessarily worthy of a stand-alone thread, I thought I'd start a "general" thread for them, like the First/ Stagecoach ones.

For example, service changes around Newcastle/ Sunderland (http://newsroom.gonortheast.co.uk/news/service-changes-from-19-may-366066) see...

the withdrawal of the cross-Sunderland 36 (replaced by diverting the current X5 - renumbered 55 - via Silksworth, and adjustments to other services)

the Tyneside 11 goes back to what it once was (Whitley Bay - Wallsend), with the 1 extended from Gateshead to the Metro Centre to cover it (previously the 96 over this section of route?)

the Durham - Sunderland service remains seven buses per hour but alters from "6xslow + 1xfast" to "5xslow + 2xfast"

the Bishop Auckland "local" service (18) replaced by an extended X24 (from what I understand of Bishop Auckland it's one of those places where the old "town" services are now generally replaced by extensions/diversions of Arriva services to Durham/ Darlington etc)

....looks to be a general cut in PVR.

Yes to help retire the Solars

Tetchytyke · 6 May 2019

There's not much that's controversial there- the 11 and 36 always seemed odd choices, I'm amazed they lasted as long as they did- but yes, a PVR cut. I also expect to see Solos replace full size buses on the 11, as happens on Sundays already.

Tetchytyke · 6 May 2019

NewcastleOne said:
Yes to help retire the Solars

The absolutely knackered ex-Brighton and ex-London deckers will do that, surely?

NewcastleOne · 6 May 2019

Arctic Troll said:
There's not much that's controversial there- the 11 and 36 always seemed odd choices, I'm amazed they lasted as long as they did- but yes, a PVR cut. I also expect to see Solos replace full size buses on the 11, as happens on Sundays already.

I expect the 19 go to full solo soon but not straight away. 2 Solos are replacing 2 Eclipse Urbans on the 19 with the urbans going into a spare role from what I’ve heard.

Andyh82 · 6 May 2019

Isn’t the X20 a new service at off peak times, so overall an increase from 6 to 7 buses per hour between Durham and Sunderland?

Tetchytyke · 6 May 2019

NewcastleOne said:
I expect the 19 go to full solo soon but not straight away.

It's getting that way already, the Solos seem to sub a lot. And apart from at peak time it'd make sense, a taxi would do during the daytime. Never see more than a couple on it when it comes past me.

Megafuss · 6 May 2019

Andyh82 said:
Isn’t the X20 a new service at off peak times, so overall an increase from 6 to 7 buses per hour between Durham and Sunderland?

On paper, yes.

By the looks of it they've cut the Hartlepool part of the X7 to enable them to use the resource to increase the overall number of buses between Durham and Sunderland - which has then enabled them to cut the overall frequency of the 20. I think they'll save three or four buses on the 20 by doing that, so about 6 to 10 duties a day. That is quite a big cull actually.

Jonny · 6 May 2019

Arctic Troll said:
There's not much that's controversial there- the 11 and 36 always seemed odd choices, I'm amazed they lasted as long as they did- but yes, a PVR cut. I also expect to see Solos replace full size buses on the 11, as happens on Sundays already.

I always thought that the 36 was rather odd to begin with - it stuck out like a sore thumb in the way that a bus saying "36 Castletown" (without clarification that it was in Sunderland) would be expected to in Chester-le-Street, especially since most people in Chester-le-Street would not have heard of Castletown let alone have cause to go there. Sunderland, on the other hand, most people in Chester-le-Street have heard of it but that's all I'll say on the matter.

Anyway, the GNE announcement for the 36 is here: I seem to recall that there was a 71 before the 36, except that it may have only gone to Sunderland city centre, and that the 36 got tagged on as an end-to-end with renumbering...

https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/timesfares/36
From 19 May

This service was introduced a number of years ago to offer new connections between different communities in Sunderland. However, passenger numbers are too low for this service to continue in its current form, but most connections provided by this service will still be possible on other services, as outlined below:

Service 8 will be diverted via Castletown, replacing service 36 on this section of route and maintaining four buses per hour between Castletown and Sunderland with service 35.

Most journeys on service X5 will be diverted via Silksworth. This maintains the frequency of service between Silksworth and Sunderland with service 33. This diversion also means the connections between Silksworth and Houghton-le-Spring are maintained.

Between Chester-le-Street, Houghton-le-Spring and Burnside Estate, new service 71 will run.

TheWalrus · 9 May 2019

Go ahead in Swindon this week have taken over the contract for the Nationwide minibus shuttles.

Blackpudding · 10 May 2019

Go North West website now live here: http://www.gonorthwest.co.uk/

All timetables are up but a mistake is to infer by the use of icons the 'Y' school services are open to the general public. They are not.

Also a hint of the colours to be used in the logo?

tbtc · 10 May 2019

Blackpudding said:
Go North West website now live here: http://www.gonorthwest.co.uk/

All timetables are up but a mistake is to infer by the use of icons the 'Y' school services are open to the general public. They are not.

Also a hint of the colours to be used in the logo?

That would make sense, as a colour scheme, given that they obviously can't carry on with the First livery - a livery with at least some orange would make sense - one of the benefits of being a flexible organisation who permit "local liveries for local people".

TheGrandWazoo · 10 May 2019

tbtc said:
That would make sense, as a colour scheme, given that they obviously can't carry on with the First livery - a livery with at least some orange would make sense - one of the benefits of being a flexible organisation who permit "local liveries for local people".

To be fair, First Group do have plenty of local liveries for local people (though not many “precious things” in FGM’s fleet). See Kernow, Somerset, Southampton, West of England etc.

Will it be another Best Impressions livery for GNW - cue the usual accusations of Ray Stenning microwaving previous liveries.

Megafuss · 10 May 2019

Well, the

TheGrandWazoo said:
To be fair, First Group do have plenty of local liveries for local people (though not many “precious things” in FGM’s fleet). See Kernow, Somerset, Southampton, West of England etc.

Will it be another Best Impressions livery for GNW - cue the usual accusations of Ray Stenning microwaving previous liveries.

The network map is not a Best Impressions job. Wouldn't surprise me if it was similar to the corporate Go North East livery (which IMHO is better than the branded routes) but with the GNW colours

Jonny · 10 May 2019

Blackpudding said:
Go North West website now live here: http://www.gonorthwest.co.uk/

All timetables are up but a mistake is to infer by the use of icons the 'Y' school services are open to the general public. They are not.

Also a hint of the colours to be used in the logo?

I don't know if they are existing routes (they weren't when I was last there, but that was ^years^ ago), it looks like they are trying to go up against Metrolink's Eccles Line (with the routing of the 33 and 63, and to a lesser extent the 53 termiinus at Langworthy).

Blackpudding · 10 May 2019

Jonny said:
I don't know if they are existing routes (they weren't when I was last there, but that was ^years^ ago), it looks like they are trying to go up against Metrolink's Eccles Line (with the routing of the 33 and 63, and to a lesser extent the 53 termiinus at Langworthy).

No changes to the routes as far as I am aware Johnny. Just for reference the 53 terminates at Salford Shopping Centre which I appreciate is near as makes no difference Langworthy. The tram takes a rather tortuous route to Manchester city centre but roadworks on Regent Road at the moment can make the bus journey very time consuming.

Samuel88 · 10 May 2019

Blackpudding said:
Go North West website now live here: http://www.gonorthwest.co.uk/

All timetables are up but a mistake is to infer by the use of icons the 'Y' school services are open to the general public. They are not.

Also a hint of the colours to be used in the logo?

Will Go North West remain in the system one partnership? No mention of multi-operator tickets.

Blackpudding · 10 May 2019

Samuel88 said:
Will Go North West remain in the system one partnership? No mention of multi-operator tickets.

I don't know the answer to that Samuel but I would like to think so. However the site is a work in progress. Under the timetable section they have a heading for the 33/X63 when it should be 33/63 (Worsley-Manchester) and a separate (missing) timetable for the X63 (Heywood-Manchester). I am sure this will be corrected but it is a disappointing start when you consider the small number of routes they have.

Blackpudding · 14 May 2019

Blackpudding said:
I don't know the answer to that Samuel but I would like to think so. However the site is a work in progress. Under the timetable section they have a heading for the 33/X63 when it should be 33/63 (Worsley-Manchester) and a separate (missing) timetable for the X63 (Heywood-Manchester). I am sure this will be corrected but it is a disappointing start when you consider the small number of routes they have.

Good to note that Go North West have corrected the error mentioned above. Having said that, they still need to address the issue of the icons used the 'Y', Yellow School Bus services (YSB) Y1, Y2 and Y9 which infer these services are open to the general public. Although they have an icon for school children they should, in my opinion, have another icon to show that not only are these services only for schoolchildren but only those with an appropriate YSB pass for the appropriate service.

jonesy3001 · 14 May 2019

whats the fleet number situation with go ahead is it similar to the stagecoach and first scheme?

TheGrandWazoo · 14 May 2019

jonesy3001 said:
whats the fleet number situation with go ahead is it similar to the stagecoach and first scheme?

No national scheme so numbers can be duplicated (e.g. there’s a 107 in Plymouth and in Swindon). With Go South Coast (Hants/Wilts/Dorset/IOW), there is a common number scheme as vehicles often transfer between fleets such as More to Damory.

Bungle965 · 14 May 2019

The route map is a bit of a mess. Becomes complicated to follow in places, I can only guess it's North Manchester General Hospital where all of the lines converge on before the 41 goes off down Victoria Avenue?
Also it seems to imply that the 17 terminates before the 17A does, when in fact they both terminate in the same place (that being Rochdale Interchange)
Sam

jonesy3001 · 14 May 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
No national scheme so numbers can be duplicated (e.g. there’s a 107 in Plymouth and in Swindon). With Go South Coast (Hants/Wilts/Dorset/IOW), there is a common number scheme as vehicles often transfer between fleets such as More to Damory.

Wonder if queens road will go back to the GM Buses type fleetnumbers then.

TheGrandWazoo · 14 May 2019

jonesy3001 said:
Wonder if queens road will go back to the GM Buses type fleetnumbers then.

If you mean 4 digit, they might. Go NE still retains some aspects of Northern numbering (3*** deckers, 7*** coaches) but not certain it’s particularly important.

TheWalrus · 14 May 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
No national scheme so numbers can be duplicated (e.g. there’s a 107 in Plymouth and in Swindon). With Go South Coast (Hants/Wilts/Dorset/IOW), there is a common number scheme as vehicles often transfer between fleets such as More to Damory.

Probably as most of the three digit Swindon fleet numbers are ex-Thamesdown whereas most of the new buses in Swindon bought by Go Ahead are 4 digit, like most of the Go South Coast fleet.

TheGrandWazoo · 14 May 2019

TheWalrus said:
Probably as most of the three digit Swindon fleet numbers are ex-Thamesdown whereas most of the new buses in Swindon bought by Go Ahead are 4 digit, like most of the Go South Coast fleet.

<cough cough> The e200mmc in the More fleet in a 2** series.

Anyhow, suffice to say, there’s no national scheme. You can find a 107 in the B&H fleet too.

overthewater · 1 Jun 2019

Go ahead Manchester now has a Website: https://www.gonorthwest.co.uk/

TheGrandWazoo · 1 Jun 2019

overthewater said:
Go ahead Manchester now has a Website: https://www.gonorthwest.co.uk/

As reported on 10th May - see #11

NewcastleOne · 1 Jun 2019

Go North East 4979&4982 have gone to GO North west as driver trainers

overthewater · 1 Jun 2019

TheGrandWazoo said:
As reported on 10th May - see #11

How did I mist that.

Go Ahead expansions and service changes

Veteran Member

RailUK Forums

Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Member

Established Member

Member

On Moderation

Member

Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Member

Established Member