North East Bus & Coach Show 2023

[Aaron21]

Although a date has not been confirmed by the North East Bus Preservation Trust. The 500 Teesside group have posted it as the 7th of May. I will update this once the nebpt post there rally dates

[Aaron21]

Metrocentre Bus Rally confirmed as 7th of May

[Boggle]

Any chance of some advance info on what might be attending, what might be available to ride on and what will just be parked up? A timetable for the heritage bus rides with some loose vehicle allocations in advance would be great. ??

[Busu284]

Any chance of some advance info on what might be attending, what might be available to ride on and what will just be parked up? A timetable for the heritage bus rides with some loose vehicle allocations in advance would be great. ??

Nothing posted on website. No timetable or Nothing. It's just what happens on the day. Usual if there. SCN 268S is always on shuttle service. So is if there is H669 BNL

[Charles41]

Nothing posted on website. No timetable or Nothing. It's just what happens on the day. Usual if there. SCN 268S is always on shuttle service. So is if there is H669 BNL

Normally they run a shuttle from Gateshead Interchange. But they do not have a timetable or a set stop. They also run to and from Newcastle. Again no timetable or set stopping/picking up place. Be prepared for legions of fed up enthusiasts, at least one argument and Metro Centre shop workers driving their cars through the middle of the rally site. I'll have the car and will probably stay no more than an hour. Oh and programs... best not to mention the lack of them.

Charles

[omnicity4659]

best bet for enthusiasts and preservationists is just to not attend...

[BusLoverMum]

best bet for enthusiasts and preservationists is just to not attend...

Well aren't you a ray of sunshine.

[wibblejunior]

It's not even like the rally is hard to access - it's just a 5 minute walk over the railway footbridge from the interchange.

[Busu284]

So something funny has just clicked in my mind. Metrocentre is on Sunday. Newcastle are at home & kick of at 4.30pm. Gne X50 is gonna be in the Metrocentre Coach Park the same time the rally is on

[Busu284]

A free modern & classic bus service will run from Metrocentre to Beamish via Tanfield railway departure from Metrocentre at 10am & every hour till 1500 then departing 10.30 until 15.30

[Boggle]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like the standard formula then. It’s a shame because a bit of advance information on what is expected to run and roughly when would allow people to plan accordingly rather than having to turn up, hang around and hope that something you want to ride on has a run out.

[Lollist]

Will some buses be open to go in the cab?

[BusLoverMum]

Will some buses be open to go in the cab?

That would be up to the owners. Not everyone is particularly careful or respectful so I wouldn't blame any who didn't.

[Boggle]

As with previous years, 30 mins was enough for a visit to the rally today. Nice to see 5232 in OK livery, but that apart, there’s only so many photos you can take of the same buses parked in the same car park. Not enough vehicles moving about or available to ride on, combined with no information whatsoever about what was going to be going out and when meant that it wasn’t worth hanging about for much longer.

[BusLoverMum]

We didn't stay long, either. We liked what we saw but had no idea if there were any trips out at any point soon, so headed off in search of lunch then came home.

[Charles41]

Took a trip to Tanfield Railway at about 11 from the rally site and spent over an hour looking round. Railway is very nice. Decided to get bus back to rally. Advertised service did not serve the railway so was stuck for nearly two hours waiting to get back to the rally. Got back at half three just as things were packing up.

Once again absolutely diabolical organisation with no oversite by NEBPT volunteers and no signage. I noted a guy with two very young children waiting over two hours at Tanfield for a bus back. Completely unacceptable. Three young lads waited well over an hour at Tanfield before getting on the scheduled service bus to Newcastle.

Interesting vehicles and good stalls at the rally but yet again they seem unable to run a piss up in a brewery.

Charles

[pbjd]

Very poorly organised I found, majority of the shuttles to Tanfield seemed to not operate and then other buses driving about for the sake of it with no forward planning.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MurdnunoC]

Briefly walked through on my way into Metrocentre after parking over that way. Not enough there to interest me in terms of vehicles with the same old faces gathering in the same old cliques as I passed. Was tempted by a trip up to Tanfield and Beamish but, after reading about the experience of Charles41, I'm glad I didn't bother. On my way back to the car, I witnessed a parade of GNE vehicles led by a short, stout female inspector with shoulder length blonde hair, ploughing through the rally site at speed, briefly stopping to aggressively remove some tape from the coned off section of the rally site. This was presumably the start of the Soccerbus operation for the day.

[Busu284]

So my thoughts on the rally

I helped out on two of the shuttle. It seemed that the South Shields Daimler, JH59 COM & ENX from the JH fleet only did runs. Gne pi##ed about sending there buses back and forwards which weren't even washed. The stagecoach decker didn't even do the proper shuttle and decided to do scottswood road. 

I was on the West Yorkshire bus helping him get to Beamish & back. Not because the nebpt are unorganised. I was helping out with them. The driver did not know his way and I helped. We went to Tanfield & Beamish but got stopped at Beamish as the driver didn't want to head back to Tanfield due to him not wanting to kill it on the hills again. The stagecoach bus was meant to be heading to Beamish but never did cause he "didn't want to" the dceker was full because of that driver. Gne sat and screwed about during the rally. Not 1 single shuttle they did at all. They faffed about running them back and forwards on stupid journeys when they could have helped doing shuttle. The buses weren't even clean which was just pathetic. Then just to make it worse the X50 woman completely went and ruined it by shouting at everyone cause she wanted her own way. 

If gne had have helped out on a shuttle service then it would have been fine. But no they sat and faffed about doing absolutely nothing. Constant trips back and forwards. Fgs at one point 5808 was at the rally. Disappeared then they came back with 5801 instead. Whatever the hell gne were thinking yesterday was pathetic. No wonder the nebpt dropped them as support. Jh Coaches were sat doing most of the shuttle work since gne didn't. Like for a company like gne who claim there the best out there. Yesterday was pathetic. 3 buses (a merc with a few stickers about King Charles & a Voltra (which changed twice) a mucky looking Scania and a random OmniDekka) non of which were clean. The rally yesterday would have been better. If gne had have helped out on shuttle. The nebpt aren't organised. They ask who wants to do a shuttle and help park up the buses. Gne didn't even do one shuttle. The shuttle was fine but with Damiler & West Yorkshire & 2 jh buses doing it. Yes the West Yorkshire didn't come back to Tanfield cause he didn't want to which I can understand. But to berate the nebpt for bad organised. It was a good event and the nebpt do a fantastic job at the rallys and think good we actually have a rally season here. But no people sit and berate them for nothing it's pathetic

[Dan]

So my thoughts on the rally

I helped out on two of the shuttle. It seemed that the South Shields Daimler, JH59 COM & ENX from the JH fleet only did runs. Gne pi##ed about sending there buses back and forwards which weren't even washed. The stagecoach decker didn't even do the proper shuttle and decided to do scottswood road. 

I was on the West Yorkshire bus helping him get to Beamish & back. Not because the nebpt are unorganised. I was helping out with them. The driver did not know his way and I helped. We went to Tanfield & Beamish but got stopped at Beamish as the driver didn't want to head back to Tanfield due to him not wanting to kill it on the hills again. The stagecoach bus was meant to be heading to Beamish but never did cause he "didn't want to" the dceker was full because of that driver. Gne sat and screwed about during the rally. Not 1 single shuttle they did at all. They faffed about running them back and forwards on stupid journeys when they could have helped doing shuttle. The buses weren't even clean which was just pathetic. Then just to make it worse the X50 woman completely went and ruined it by shouting at everyone cause she wanted her own way. 

If gne had have helped out on a shuttle service then it would have been fine. But no they sat and faffed about doing absolutely nothing. Constant trips back and forwards. Fgs at one point 5808 was at the rally. Disappeared then they came back with 5801 instead. Whatever the hell gne were thinking yesterday was pathetic. No wonder the nebpt dropped them as support. Jh Coaches were sat doing most of the shuttle work since gne didn't. Like for a company like gne who claim there the best out there. Yesterday was pathetic. 3 buses (a merc with a few stickers about King Charles & a Voltra (which changed twice) a mucky looking Scania and a random OmniDekka) non of which were clean. The rally yesterday would have been better. If gne had have helped out on shuttle. The nebpt aren't organised. They ask who wants to do a shuttle and help park up the buses. Gne didn't even do one shuttle. The shuttle was fine but with Damiler & West Yorkshire & 2 jh buses doing it. Yes the West Yorkshire didn't come back to Tanfield cause he didn't want to which I can understand. But to berate the nebpt for bad organised. It was a good event and the nebpt do a fantastic job at the rallys and think good we actually have a rally season here. But no people sit and berate them for nothing it's pathetic

Sounds like someone is a fan of Go North East...

NEBPT didn't drop Go North East as support for this rally - Go North East have dropped NEBPT from the organisations which they sponsor (and as such, NEBPT have removed them from publicity).

The four buses in attendance were a Voltra Yutong E12 (to promote the new electric buses), a Connections4 Mercedes Citaro (decorated for the King's Coronation), a Driver Training Scania L94 (which are being phased out, the last two to be withdrawn imminently) and a fleet livery Scania OmniDekka (also being phased out, most of this type to be withdrawn over the next few weeks). The two Scanias were there for enthusiast appeal, more than anything else.

The same comments are made every year with regards to this (and many other) NEBPT rally. The fact GNE didn't support the event with shuttle buses this year isn't the thing which resulted in the perception that the event was poor.