(22 Nov 2016, 10:04 pm)Jimmi wrote Shields Ferry services are suspended until early next week, w/c 28 November, due to the discovery of damage on the North Shields landing.
http://www.nexus.org.uk/ferry/updates?op...isruptions
Kingsley's have been operating the replacement bus service.
![[Image: 42646165175_c985496eb0_z.jpg]](https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1822/42646165175_c985496eb0_z.jpg)
Kingsleys Coaches 254 / LX53 AZD. by Guy Park-Royal, on Flickr
(09 Nov 2019, 5:48 pm)ifm001 wrote Ferry is out of service until further notice due to repairs being required on the North Shields Ferry Landing. Anyone know who is operating the 585 this time?Yesterday, a taxi and a Stagecoach bus.
(18 Mar 2023, 7:23 pm)NEbushopper wrote https://www.nexus.org.uk/news/item/nexus...ry-landing
found this about the new ferry landing for North Shields
(15 Jul 2023, 4:49 pm)ASX_Terranova wrote Don't really know where to put this but would a regular river bus up the Tyne (every 20 mins) be a good idea.
Start at either North or South Shields and serve, Jarrow, St Anthonys, Friars Goose, Quayside, Dunston, Metrocentre and Newburn.
I wanted to go further west but I don't thinkthere will be enough water and can't really do one on the Wear due the waterfalls around Chester & Durham.
(15 Jul 2023, 5:34 pm)Andreos1 wrote I've said for years, that the river needs to be utilised more.
We keep hearing stories about the roads and pollution and the need to switch modes of transport - but here we are, sitting alongside a totally underutilised resource.
It would open up so many new links/connections and in the grand scheme of things, it wouldn't cost much to set up either.
A fast express type ferry between key points and a slower stopping service, maybe zigzagging down the river.
(16 Jul 2023, 3:14 pm)Adrian wrote I'm not convinced. Having used the Thames Clipper in London, I'd be surprised if, other than tourism, it's used for any more than odd journeys.
When I was last down there, we did Battersea to Canary Wharf, which took just over an hour. The same journey on the Tube is half the time, even taking into account the change from Northern to Jubilee. The journey was also around £9, as oppose to the £2.80 off-peak fare on the Underground, which is part of capping.
Having a look at the timetable for the Clipper, it takes 1:14 from Barking Riverside to Embankment. A similar distance from Newburn to Shields, as suggested above. It's already slightly quicker using Bus and Metro.
There's also the question of how well used it'd be. Newburn isn't exactly a huge, with a population of less than 10k. It already has a 10 minute frequency on the Stagecoach 22, takes just over 15 minutes into town, and which stops in more convenient places oppose to where a ferry landing would need to be. Even if you look at other places likely to be served to/from Newcastle; Blaydon (15 min (infrequent) by train, 20 by bus), Metrocentre (9 minutes by train, 18 by bus), Dunston (15 minutes by bus). The road is King here.
On the East of Newcastle, they've had bus links along the river via the Quaylink and Stagecoach 18, but they're really not that well used. Even the stretch between the Quayside and St Peters basin, where there's loads of housing, it's rare to see more than 1 or 2 board at a time.
You're also not considering the biggest competitor to a river boat/ferry service - bridges. They're almost the sole reason why we don't have ferry crossings along the Tyne and the Wear anymore, with exception of the Shields ferry.
I'm all for trying new things, but the cost of delivering this would far outweigh any benefit delivered.
(16 Jul 2023, 9:44 pm)Andreos1 wrote I've done the O2 to Embankment before. Purely from a tourist perspective and you're right, there are many quicker journeys.
However, other than peak, I don't think there's any/many express services.
However, I think you're comparing apples and pears.
London has a fantastic public transport system compared to what we have up here.
There are many alternatives, depending on need.
However, they've also got bridges.
They've also got high levels of pollution and are expanding the public transport offering, along with emissions/congestion charging.
The bridges you mention across the Tyne, are struggling to cope with traffic.
Buses are getting stuck. Cars are getting stuck.
One of them is so knackered - they made it one way and removed the ability to cross it going north.
They're also consistently appearing in the lists of pollution hot-spots.
I've lost count how much money has been chucked at bus priority measures.
I've lost count how many times we've seen roads narrowed and bus lanes squeezed in.
I doubt many will be travelling from Blaydon to South Shields.
I do reckon there will be many doing short-hops, maybe two or three landing stations and probably passing a 10 stuck in traffic around the Metrocentre or crawling over the Redheugh Bridge though.
Maybe even going to places on one riverbus, that would take 2 or 3 buses.
I'd also hazard a guess that all those people living in the new houses on Smiths Dock, are getting stuck in the tunnel or going the long-way round on the way to work too.
East of Gateshead, you're looking at potential landing spots not far (short walk or a quick bus ride) from several metro stations (Bill Quay/Pelaw, St Peters Basin/Byker, Hebburn, Wallsend, Jarrow, Willington Quay...
The Tyne is sitting there totally underutilised, whilst everything alongside it, under it or over it is struggling.
When it comes to public transport and infrastructure, I look at some of the European cities and am constantly amazed at how far ahead they are of us. Toto on the Amsterdam trams for example. It's been in place for donkeys years.
Then look at the Dutch and how they're using their waterways successfully. Making the most of the resource that's there and not finding the long way around or over it like we do here.
(16 Jul 2023, 10:01 pm)Storx wrote I'd say one of the biggest problems with Riverboats here is we have an adverse idea of building houses near the thing and it's mainly parks and/or industrial whereas the likes of London and the European cities are all residential right upto the river. Other than Smith Docks, Newcastle / Gateshead Quays and around Dunston Staiths there's not really anything of note on the whole length without a substantial walk.
You have to remember there's the foot tunnel and that's dead most the time which might have it's refurb finished sometime in the 21st century.
(16 Jul 2023, 9:44 pm)Andreos1 wrote I've done the O2 to Embankment before. Purely from a tourist perspective and you're right, there are many quicker journeys.
However, other than peak, I don't think there's any/many express services.
However, I think you're comparing apples and pears.
London has a fantastic public transport system compared to what we have up here.
There are many alternatives, depending on need.
However, they've also got bridges.
They've also got high levels of pollution and are expanding the public transport offering, along with emissions/congestion charging.
The bridges you mention across the Tyne, are struggling to cope with traffic.
Buses are getting stuck. Cars are getting stuck.
One of them is so knackered - they made it one way and removed the ability to cross it going north.
They're also consistently appearing in the lists of pollution hot-spots.
I've lost count how much money has been chucked at bus priority measures.
I've lost count how many times we've seen roads narrowed and bus lanes squeezed in.
I doubt many will be travelling from Blaydon to South Shields.
I do reckon there will be many doing short-hops, maybe two or three landing stations and probably passing a 10 stuck in traffic around the Metrocentre or crawling over the Redheugh Bridge though.
Maybe even going to places on one riverbus, that would take 2 or 3 buses.
I'd also hazard a guess that all those people living in the new houses on Smiths Dock, are getting stuck in the tunnel or going the long-way round on the way to work too.
East of Gateshead, you're looking at potential landing spots not far (short walk or a quick bus ride) from several metro stations (Bill Quay/Pelaw, St Peters Basin/Byker, Hebburn, Wallsend, Jarrow, Willington Quay...
The Tyne is sitting there totally underutilised, whilst everything alongside it, under it or over it is struggling.
When it comes to public transport and infrastructure, I look at some of the European cities and am constantly amazed at how far ahead they are of us. Toto on the Amsterdam trams for example. It's been in place for donkeys years.
Then look at the Dutch and how they're using their waterways successfully. Making the most of the resource that's there and not finding the long way around or over it like we do here.
(17 Jul 2023, 10:39 am)Adrian wrote I don't think the comparison is too dissimilar. The network on both sides of the Tyne, formed of buses, Metro and Rail, is not a bad service at all. In my example above, I quoted somewhere the size of Newburn having a 10 minute frequency to the town, with a journey time of just over 15 minutes.
There's always ways to improve transport networks and infrastructure, but I really don't think the suggestion of more services on the river does that. In the places you quote East of Gateshead as potential landing spots, you've probably answered your own question; they're a short walk from several Metro stations. When the maximum journey time on that section (from Shields) is about 25 minutes, I don't think you're going to beat that across the River. Even still, the Metro gets you into the centre of Newcastle, whereas landing at the Quayside is either a steep walk up or a bus ride if you have mobility issues.
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