Plaxton Centro 1923 has now entered service at Ashington, was put on 35s thos afternoon is tracking as SP-NE as pulsar 1462 is also tracking as.

Back in the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s, what timetable leaflets were produced in the area?

Was it the responsibility of the operators, or did Nexus used to provide leaflets for more than just secured services (as was the norm in West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester etc)?

And regardless of whether it was the operators or the PTE who did timetables, were they seperate ones for individual services like recently, or was there area guides/booklets etc?

I saw in the SC recent repaints thread preservation be mentioned which got me wondering,do SC have any preserved buses in the north east,or is there maybe a bus you would like to see preserved?

Been wondering,what engines do most of the 24*** buses  have?

The 20 has had it branding changed to Upto every 15 mins. 

So 4 more 16' plates are chanced to be painted, or maybe just 2 to have 2 branded spares.

Personally I would have Sunderland-Durham every 10 (6ph), with it extending to South Sheilds (3ph) every 20 mins.

To celebrate the joint 50 year anniversaries of the Leyland National and the Lillyhall factory we are organising a unique FREE EVENT, LN50, to take place in Whitehaven on the Bank Holiday weekend of 30th April to 1st May, 2022. We anticipate a large selection of vehicles to be either on display along the historic harbour side or running free services round the town and further afield. This will include one of the largest gatherings of Leyland Nationals since the factory closed, comprising vehicles from the earliest to the latest, with a few one-off surprises, and our own collection. There will be other Leyland types too, from Atlanteans to Olympians, a selection of historic, preserved Cumberland vehicles and an emphasis of buses from the major groupings at the time of the Leyland National’s heyday - in particular from the National Bus Company and the PTEs that ran services in the our major conurbations.

https://www.facebook.com/events/whitehav...303199712/

Just drove past the bus link mentioned in the thread title and it looks complete now. Traffic lights are now active for it, still coned off for buses. But hopefully sees use soon after taking how my years to build it.

Go-Ahead Group sets out a new business strategy, “The Next Billion Journeys”: https://newsroom.go-ahead.com/news/the-g...n-journeys

There's more detail in the web link above, but:

The Next Billion Journeys

Our strategy, The Next Billion Journeys, will focus on three strategic objectives:

• Improve the performance of the underlying business
  
• Grow organically and externally
  
• Progress new opportunities
  

To achieve, these objectives, Go-Ahead’s management team will prioritise five enablers:

1. Strengthening governance and transparency
   
2. Improving digital and data capabilities
   
3. Consolidating Zero Emission capabilities
   
4. Rebuilding post-Covid confidence with passengers and clients
   
5. Enhancing people engagement and collaboration
   

One of the points I noted: "Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, Go-Ahead will implement initiatives to accelerate passenger recovery – including leveraging data to analyse new travel patterns and to tailor routes, schedules and ticketing to match passenger needs, plus marketing initiatives to rebuild confidence in public transport."

Now that could be read as something that is much needed, and really needs to happen to improve transport early morning and evening for commuters, but on the other hand it could be further eradication of anything that doesn't make a profit, similar to what has happened recently in North Tyneside. It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out, and exactly how it fits into the new world of 'partnership'

Wasn't sure where to put this as the Rural Link Northumberland thread didn't seem appropriate.

Rural Link are seemingly growing their operations in Bishop Auckland beyond the 104, having been awarded the contract for new service 87 from Bishop Auckland to Toft Hill replacing Arriva's service 86 (see timetable attached). The 87 is virtually identical to the previous Arriva and GNE operation. Rural Link have been awarded the contract through to October 2026.

I know it is pretty early on in the year for this but does anyone know if Stagecoach are planning on using the open top buses at Sunderland depot on the E routes again this year?

I really enjoyed riding them last summer on these routes but all of them (maybe except 17240) had really bad reliability and they are ageing so I wondered if these buses are still around to be used this year?