(10 Feb 2017, 7:44 pm)thetravelman Most of the time when I have seen the 13 it has mostly been an MPD, I've only seen a Solo on the Route a couple of times, and I quite often see the service, as I'm in and around the West Denton area several times a week.

(10 Feb 2017, 9:19 pm)Jamie M How does the 11 currently interwork at night? At north shields it shows the 42 as terminating around 7pm.

(10 Feb 2017, 7:47 pm)Jamie M I must just always see it at the wrong time, then!

(10 Feb 2017, 10:52 pm)S813 FVK Any idea when 5332 will lose its Cinderella promotional livery? It is now outdated by just short of a month.

(11 Feb 2017, 12:16 pm)Andreos1 https://twitter.com/gonortheast/status/830375456641863684

Another breakdown/vehicle fault?

(11 Feb 2017, 12:36 pm)Dan I think Go North East's increasing use of Social Media to report breakdowns is helpful for passengers waiting for a bus that isn't going to arrive. It potentially gives some customers time to make alternative travel arrangements, if it's absolutely crucial.

These reports only seem to be done for infrequent services such as the Tyne Tees Xpress, presumably because the next bus would have arrived by the time a breakdown on a 10-minute frequency service had been noted on Social Media.

I wonder how many breakdowns there are on a service like the Red Arrows, for example? We always seem to discuss the breakdowns on the Tyne Tees Xpress because Go North East have noted the breakdown on Social Media, but never discuss the reliability of the vehicles on the Red Arrows. This of course could be extended to other operators too. We never seem to discuss breakdowns for Arriva and Stagecoach - is this because their buses are more reliable and don't suffer mechanical defects as regularly as Go North East's buses, or is it because they don't record every breakdown on Social Media?

(11 Feb 2017, 12:36 pm)Dan I think Go North East's increasing use of Social Media to report breakdowns is helpful for passengers waiting for a bus that isn't going to arrive. It potentially gives some customers time to make alternative travel arrangements, if it's absolutely crucial.

These reports only seem to be done for infrequent services such as the Tyne Tees Xpress, presumably because the next bus would have arrived by the time a breakdown on a 10-minute frequency service had been noted on Social Media.

I wonder how many breakdowns there are on a service like the Red Arrows, for example? We always seem to discuss the breakdowns on the Tyne Tees Xpress because Go North East have noted the breakdown on Social Media, but never discuss the reliability of the vehicles on the Red Arrows. This of course could be extended to other operators too. We never seem to discuss breakdowns for Arriva and Stagecoach - is this because their buses are more reliable and don't suffer mechanical defects as regularly as Go North East's buses, or is it because they don't record every breakdown on Social Media?

(11 Feb 2017, 12:59 pm)Michael I know Stagecoach North East use Twitter, which i don't use, i also know they do report if services are running late - however like GNE not all of them are reported...

No idea on Arriva tbh

(11 Feb 2017, 5:34 pm)Michael 5462 spotted at Heysham docks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nsf323alistair/31888877603/in/dateposted/

Thanks to Alister for the picture.

(12 Feb 2017, 10:44 am)Dan Delivered on Thursday, branded on Friday, entered service yesterday. 5276 and 5282 remain as the only "Blaydon Racers" branded vehicles now - the former is VOR and the latter was out in service on the 49 yesterday.

As already established; 5275 and 5281 have returned to service at Riverside, while 5277 is currently on loan to Washington. 5278 - 5280, 5283 and 5331 are all at Saltmeadows Road out of service at the moment.

The "Citylink 57" branded Mercedes Citaros have now been fitted with Wi-Fi - meaning that over 300 buses in the fleet are now fitted with Wi-Fi.

(12 Feb 2017, 11:36 am)Dans_bus_photos Is there a particular reason why 5275 seems to have been allocated to the X9/X10 over the last week or is it just down to vehicle shortages? I'm assuming its just recently had a tachograph fitted too?

(12 Feb 2017, 11:42 am)S813 FVK 5275 has always had a tachograph fitted - in its batch, it was the vehicle fitted with a tachograph (like 6071 on the TENs, 5391 on the X66 etc)

(12 Feb 2017, 12:26 pm)Jamie M The thing that throws me off is that on the weekly allocation sheet from the website, it shows 5275 as not being tachographed (newer ones won't show as they are counted as 'off road for refurb at the bottom'). Since it has made appearances branded, this is a little misleading.
See:
T = Tacho'd, as 5235 shows.

(12 Feb 2017, 12:33 pm)S813 FVK Maybe it has just been tacho'd within the last year or so then and i was just imagining seeing it with a 'T' next to its fleet number for ages. Mind, 3943 is shown to have WiFi when it doesn't (although that would be great in an ideal situation).