Darlington Town Centre Bus Stops
Darlington Town Centre Bus Stops
Bus crashes into bus shelter (again!)
http://m.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1139...arlington/
Darlington town centre bus stops are badly laid out especially in that area where stands H/I/J are very close together and often two buses want to be on the stands but there isn't the space, for example at 45 mins past the hour on stand H the 8 is due to depart from the stand plus the 16 also leaves at the same time and also the 7 is due to arrive at 45 mins past too but often arrives early meaning the 16 often has to pull in all over Darlington such as on that corner and one day it had to pull up outside Bright House little wonder it never has anybody on it.
Also the stops on Northgate are far to close made worse as as well as town services using them stands the longer distance routes also drop off there too and at times the bus has to either wait for a space to free up to pull in and block the road or pull onto the 13A/13B stand around the corner.
When these stories come up about bus incidents in Darlington town centre there are always people saying that Darlington needs a bus station but the simple fact is there is nowhere to put one in Darlington town centre also people say that don't want to walk miles to the shops.
Something really needs to be done as its ridiculous how buses are often end up blocking the road on Tubwell Row and having to board a bus in the middle of the road is brilliant for passengers in wheelchairs which is poor and not seeing your bus because its half down Tubwell Row because it can't get on the stand because there is three buses booked to use one stand at the same time.
I know what you mean, every day me and many others have to put up with this madness! Stop E needs to be put to use outside Wilkinsons to free up some space and services need to be re jingled (I.e the 2, 3 & 19 only share stand I). Sapphire 7 could exclusively use stand E freeing loads of space instantly!
(10 Aug 2014, 7:10 am)JoshP I know what you mean, every day me and many others have to put up with this madness! Stop E needs to be put to use outside Wilkinsons to free up some space and services need to be re jingled (I.e the 2, 3 & 19 only share stand I). Sapphire 7 could exclusively use stand E freeing loads of space instantly!
(10 Aug 2014, 7:10 am)JoshP I know what you mean, every day me and many others have to put up with this madness! Stop E needs to be put to use outside Wilkinsons to free up some space and services need to be re jingled (I.e the 2, 3 & 19 only share stand I). Sapphire 7 could exclusively use stand E freeing loads of space instantly!
(10 Aug 2014, 7:16 am)Jimmi I would like to see some services using stand E again, but having the 7 on a different stand to the 5/5A, 8 and 21 would be silly. The same would apply to moving the 1, 1b and X1 from the stand with the other services to Cockerton although the 2 runs about every 10 minutes though.
(10 Aug 2014, 7:16 am)Jimmi I would like to see some services using stand E again, but having the 7 on a different stand to the 5/5A, 8 and 21 would be silly. The same would apply to moving the 1, 1b and X1 from the stand with the other services to Cockerton although the 2 runs about every 10 minutes though.
(11 Aug 2014, 4:36 pm)JoshP Maybe they could have a policy of the town services using stands A-E only and out of town services using L-N?
I know it splits the 2 and 3 from the 1 but most other groups stick together (north road group) etc...
(11 Aug 2014, 4:36 pm)JoshP Maybe they could have a policy of the town services using stands A-E only and out of town services using L-N?
I know it splits the 2 and 3 from the 1 but most other groups stick together (north road group) etc...
Went to Darlington this afternoon and I got stuck on service 5 for three minutes on Northgate because there was two buses on service 10 arrived at the same time and we couldn't pull off stand B so we just had to sit there.
On Stand I the 84 and X1 were occupying the stand and then service 2 arrived and couldn't get on the stand and it left and I don't think it picked up any passengers from that stand.
When I was leaving Darlington there was a huge line of buses on Northgate which was backed up onto the roundabout so the 7 I was on struggled to get round to head down North Road.
This is nothing rare either, something has to be done as this is pathetic, I'm waiting for the day my bus leaves Darlington without picking any passengers up because it can't get on the stand.
(12 Aug 2014, 9:46 pm)busman101 Needs a Bus Station man !
(12 Aug 2014, 9:46 pm)busman101 Needs a Bus Station man !
Bus free for all
"Darlington needs a bus station"... God how many times do we have to hear this.
http://m.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1142...e_for_all/
(26 Aug 2014, 8:22 pm)JoshP Because the 2 and 11 intermixing does not work in the slightest, today at around 4pm, three number 11's and two number 2's battled for stands A & B, as well as other services, causing such a backlog of buses on Northgate roundabout, it was chaos!
(26 Aug 2014, 8:22 pm)JoshP Because the 2 and 11 intermixing does not work in the slightest, today at around 4pm, three number 11's and two number 2's battled for stands A & B, as well as other services, causing such a backlog of buses on Northgate roundabout, it was chaos!
(26 Aug 2014, 8:28 pm)Jimmi I knew this would be the case, I've seen times where there has been two service 2's mid afternoon too, this is why when it was changed from the 25 they were split into two routes because of poor time keeping because of the traffic on Yarm Road and Woodland Road.
The other week I saw three service 10's arrive at the same time on Northgate too.
(26 Aug 2014, 8:28 pm)Jimmi I knew this would be the case, I've seen times where there has been two service 2's mid afternoon too, this is why when it was changed from the 25 they were split into two routes because of poor time keeping because of the traffic on Yarm Road and Woodland Road.
The other week I saw three service 10's arrive at the same time on Northgate too.
Service 7 ended up blocking the roundabout once again as some stupid prat parked their crappy Peugeot in the middle of stand "A"
Also a taxi stopped outside the Post Office opposite the 13A/13B stand while the other person in the car went to the cash machine and of course there was a 13A on the stand at the time which meant nothing could get through so that ended up causing a pile of traffic on Northgate.
Also something needs to be done about cars stopping on Prebend Row as at times buses struggle to get round, when something parks right on the corner the bus has no chance of getting round and I once had to sit on service 5 for 5 minutes outside the hotel because we couldn't get round the corner because someone was parked badly on the corner.
Something needs to be done about this too as it results in buses being delayed and people having to make dodgy moves and having cars blocking the town centre certainly makes the town look good and make me go on a regular basis. Also just because you have your hazards on doesn't make it okay to just stop anywhere especially in bus stops.
(05 Sep 2014, 1:11 pm)Jimmi Service 7 ended up blocking the roundabout once again as some stupid prat parked their crappy Peugeot in the middle of stand "A"
Also a taxi stopped outside the Post Office opposite the 13A/13B stand while the other person in the car went to the cash machine and of course there was a 13A on the stand at the time which meant nothing could get through so that ended up causing a pile of traffic on Northgate.
Also something needs to be done about cars stopping on Prebend Row as at times buses struggle to get round, when something parks right on the corner the bus has no chance of getting round and I once had to sit on service 5 for 5 minutes outside the hotel because we couldn't get round the corner because someone was parked badly on the corner.
Something needs to be done about this too as it results in buses being delayed and people having to make dodgy moves and having cars blocking the town centre certainly makes the town look good and make me go on a regular basis. Also just because you have your hazards on doesn't make it okay to just stop anywhere especially in bus stops.
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(05 Sep 2014, 1:11 pm)Jimmi Service 7 ended up blocking the roundabout once again as some stupid prat parked their crappy Peugeot in the middle of stand "A"
Also a taxi stopped outside the Post Office opposite the 13A/13B stand while the other person in the car went to the cash machine and of course there was a 13A on the stand at the time which meant nothing could get through so that ended up causing a pile of traffic on Northgate.
Also something needs to be done about cars stopping on Prebend Row as at times buses struggle to get round, when something parks right on the corner the bus has no chance of getting round and I once had to sit on service 5 for 5 minutes outside the hotel because we couldn't get round the corner because someone was parked badly on the corner.
Something needs to be done about this too as it results in buses being delayed and people having to make dodgy moves and having cars blocking the town centre certainly makes the town look good and make me go on a regular basis. Also just because you have your hazards on doesn't make it okay to just stop anywhere especially in bus stops.
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Service Manager, Coatham Connect
(05 Sep 2014, 9:52 pm)tyresmoke Yeah he came running back when he saw me taking a photo, amusingly.I don't know why operators don't start releasing some of their driver view CCTV footage onto YouTube or something. It'd be a right insight to see what drivers have to put up with daily.
(05 Sep 2014, 9:56 pm)aureolin I don't know why operators don't start releasing some of their driver view CCTV footage onto YouTube or something. It'd be a right insight to see what drivers have to put up with daily.
(05 Sep 2014, 9:56 pm)aureolin I don't know why operators don't start releasing some of their driver view CCTV footage onto YouTube or something. It'd be a right insight to see what drivers have to put up with daily.
My service 5 pulled onto stand "I" this afternoon because the 7 arrived early so the driver pulled round to where the Arriva office is and didn't come back until it was due away from the stop. Also service 14 pulled in on an angle so it was partly blocking the road.
Also I got off the X66 on Tubwell Row this afternoon and trying to get from one side of the road to the other is a nightmare because all you can see is buses on the stands because there is too many services using the same stands, you can't see anything until you are in the middle of the road and then have to swiftly step back before you get hit by the car that you couldn't see, one day someone (probably me) will get run over there because its a flaming mess.
Sort things out Darlington Borough Council and stop pretending things are fine by making statements like "our recent stand changes have now improved traffic on Prebend Row making it safer" when all they've done is make Tubwell Row even more dangerous than it already was by moving the traffic from Prebend Row onto Tubwell Row, and almost one month since a bus ploughed into stand "I" it has still not been repaired and has metal fencing around it which looks lovely. When will someone see sense and sort this mess out.
Unless a transport authority/pte decides to build a bus station, I can't see there being much change.
Financially, it will cost a fortune to build and take an age to recoup that initial outlay.
On Tyneside/Wearside - you get the likes of Nexus who use private/public finance to construct a bus station.
The initial outlay, is returned by the way of rent by small businesses sited within the bus station and from the operators paying landing/access fees.
The PTE had the foresight to build the interchanges back in the 70's/80's to complement the integrated system.
Operators would be silly to move services away from these areas - based on the simple basis, that they would loose passengers.
On North Road, you have the site of what was an operator owned/constructed site.
Ditto Park Lane and others too. Not sure about Peterlee, but in all likelihood it was.
In Darlington, which operators would pay the council to use the bus station (without any interchange facilities) when they can use the streets for nowt?
There would possibly be a similar situation to the one in Hartlepool.
Back in the day, when there was competition, an operator would build their own bus station/terminus, very much like the train companies did.
It demonstrated grandeur and could attract passengers from a rival operation.
There isn't anything like that since de-reg.
As for the siting of stops; whilst problems may be happening on a daily basis, there will be all sorts of things to take into account, such as the destinations of the buses I.e routes in, out and across town, locations needing to be near shops/busy areas and the existing road/building infrastructure - before any re-siting can even happen.