GCT supposedly has the 37, 57, 319 & R5 from next month. The 57 will only be from Heworth to Wardley that they will operate.

(11 Jun 2025, 7:53 am)Thomas12 wrote I find it hard to believe the service is ‘amazing’ and I doubt most passengers will notice or even care that Go North East are operating it.

The difference between a large operator and a small operator is that the latter can ensure a smaller pool of drivers run the service who get to know passengers by name, where they board and alight, will remain stationary until all passengers have sat down, and so on.

If you travelled on the 643 service over the last 2-3 days, I think you’d find the talk of the bus is how they’re absolutely devastated Northstar has lost the contract and how poor the public perceive Go North East’s reliability to be (based on recent performance of the 6).

The 643 has one elderly customer whose young grandson is autistic and will not travel on a Go North East bus, but loves the blue Northstar bus and will exclusively travel on the 643 only. That customer has no idea how they are going to travel from July.

There are several elderly customers on the 643 who use the service just to see and speak with the two regular drivers, who they have come to know very well over the last twelve months. They have said they are unlikely to travel with Go North East and won’t have as much human interaction, as there’ll be a multitude of drivers rather than a very small number.

Do not underestimate the value of good customer service, or the great effort that Northstar as a company has put in over the last 11 months.

(11 Jun 2025, 7:53 am)Thomas12 wrote I find it hard to believe the service is ‘amazing’ and I doubt most passengers will notice or even care that Go North East are operating it.

Is that because your own expectations are so low for bus services? 

I'd be delighted if an operator served where I lived, and they put the same level of time and commitment into presentation and customer experience as Northstar do. Indeed, it's something I've previously praised Go North East for under different management, but the current bunch couldn't care less. 

I don't think independents have to have a monopoly on excellent presentation and customer experience either. Operators like Transdev and trentbarton have shown that it's possible to deliver the same, but on a greater scale. It comes down to what the management see as a priority, and in the case of Go North East and Arriva in the North East, it's so far down the list that it didn't make the print.

It's supposed to be a public service. We shouldn't accept any old rubbish.

(11 Jun 2025, 11:14 am)S830OFT wrote GCT supposedly has the 37, 57, 319 & R5 from next month. The 57 will only be from Heworth to Wardley that they will operate.

Only evenings 57 I'm guessing. Or full 57 being cut

(11 Jun 2025, 11:14 am)S830OFT wrote GCT supposedly has the 37, 57, 319 & R5 from next month. The 57 will only be from Heworth to Wardley that they will operate.

Renumbering of the tunnel route to 319 meaning the current 19 will have to stay as is unless the plans to merge the two but I find that unlikely.

(11 Jun 2025, 11:30 am)Dan wrote The difference between a large operator and a small operator is that the latter can ensure a smaller pool of drivers run the service who get to know passengers by name, where they board and alight, will remain stationary until all passengers have sat down, and so on.

If you travelled on the 643 service over the last 2-3 days, I think you’d find the talk of the bus is how they’re absolutely devastated Northstar has lost the contract and how poor the public perceive Go North East’s reliability to be (based on recent performance of the 6).

The 643 has one elderly customer whose young grandson is autistic and will not travel on a Go North East bus, but loves the blue Northstar bus and will exclusively travel on the 643 only. That customer has no idea how they are going to travel from July.

There are several elderly customers on the 643 who use the service just to see and speak with the two regular drivers, who they have come to know very well over the last twelve months. They have said they are unlikely to travel with Go North East and won’t have as much human interaction, as there’ll be a multitude of drivers rather than a very small number.

Do not underestimate the value of good customer service, or the great effort that Northstar as a company has put in over the last 11 months.

Its a shame Northstar couldn't run the 643 commercially then everyone including the tax payer would be happy

(11 Jun 2025, 11:30 am)Dan wrote The difference between a large operator and a small operator is that the latter can ensure a smaller pool of drivers run the service who get to know passengers by name, where they board and alight, will remain stationary until all passengers have sat down, and so on.

If you travelled on the 643 service over the last 2-3 days, I think you’d find the talk of the bus is how they’re absolutely devastated Northstar has lost the contract and how poor the public perceive Go North East’s reliability to be (based on recent performance of the 6).

The 643 has one elderly customer whose young grandson is autistic and will not travel on a Go North East bus, but loves the blue Northstar bus and will exclusively travel on the 643 only. That customer has no idea how they are going to travel from July.

There are several elderly customers on the 643 who use the service just to see and speak with the two regular drivers, who they have come to know very well over the last twelve months. They have said they are unlikely to travel with Go North East and won’t have as much human interaction, as there’ll be a multitude of drivers rather than a very small number.

Do not underestimate the value of good customer service, or the great effort that Northstar as a company has put in over the last 11 months.

So before Northstar took over the 643 (or before Northstar even existed), none of these passengers used the service as it was operated by Go North East? (or GCT earlier on).

And now many of the regular passengers are unlikely to use the service which has a similar timetable to now because Northstar aren’t going to operate it? I find that hard to believe.

(12 Jun 2025, 8:08 am)Thomas12 wrote So before Northstar took over the 643 (or before Northstar even existed), none of these passengers used the service as it was operated by Go North East? (or GCT earlier on).

And now many of the regular passengers are unlikely to use the service which has a similar timetable to now because Northstar aren’t going to operate it? I find that hard to believe.

To be fair, GoNorthEast is absolutely hated outside the bus circles ever since the bus strikes and the reliability which has been dire since Covid pretty much. I wouldn't be surprised if people are unhappy they're taking it back over and are choosing it over the 6 because of it's timekeeping.

I know locally there's quite a few people who choose the 19 to Cramlington over the 57/57A because of the dire reliability of the Arriva services. If Arriva ran it, I'd highly doubt they'd use it.

I'm gonna start with an unusual sentence but I am delighted that Northstar has lost this contract

It is not because of their brilliant service and customer service of doing things differently but it shows that Nexus is actually doing their job.

Working in the best interest of the taxpayer based on cost.

Sadly if Northstar bid wasn't the cheapest perhaps other bidders put in different proposals for the bid.

But we must remember that these contracts are tax payer funded contracts.

Northstar for all we know may of put a competitive bid in and GNE have put in a counter bid and said we will take it on a semi risk (forgot what the technical bit is called)

I am not going to lie Northstar has done more for that service in promoting it even as a secured service than Nexus have and on top of social media posts and new timetables for the service

Give Northstar credit they have promoted the service so much it has became attractive for GNE perhaps but Northstar may of changed perceptions of secured services on promote as much as possible.

look at GCT when did they promote a nexus secured service like Northstar did with the 643 ?

Northstar losing the contract can be positive as it means that more passengers are using the service GNE have the monopoly of the area so interworking with thier tickets are better for the passengers and that area and Northstar can look for new challenges ... look at other services they could change adapt and increase passenger numbers on.

Customers will remember the Northstar brand and no doubt they will be back in the area but for a new company they have done fantastic but we cannot allow Secured Services to be given to companies at a premium price.

We see GCT time and time again going for the one man band services (pheonix scarlet band compass) to name a few services they have undercut to secure the services - we need a bit of rationale and to think Northstar has done a brilliant job on behalf of the taxpayer

but lets see what is the next service Dan and his team can turnaround afterall they currently have a service in North Yorkshire!

(12 Jun 2025, 8:55 pm)DaveFromUpNorth wrote I'm gonna start with an unusual sentence but I am delighted  that Northstar has lost this contract

It is not because of their  brilliant service and customer service  of doing things differently but  it shows that Nexus is actually doing their job.

Working in the best interest of the taxpayer  based on cost.

Sadly if Northstar bid wasn't the cheapest perhaps other bidders put in different proposals for the bid.

But we must remember that these contracts are tax payer funded contracts. 

Northstar for all we know may of put a competitive bid in and GNE have put in a counter bid and said we will take it on a semi risk (forgot what the technical bit is called)

I am not going to lie Northstar has done more for that service in promoting it even as a secured service than Nexus have and on top of social media posts and new timetables for the service

Give Northstar credit they have promoted the service so much it has became attractive for GNE perhaps but Northstar may of changed perceptions of secured services on promote as much as possible.

look at GCT when did they promote a nexus secured service like Northstar did with the 643 ?

Northstar losing the contract can be positive as it means that more passengers are using the service GNE have the monopoly of the area so interworking with thier tickets are better for the passengers and that area and Northstar can look for new challenges ... look at other services they could change adapt and increase passenger numbers on.

Customers will remember the Northstar brand and no doubt they will be back in the area but for a new company they have done fantastic but we cannot allow Secured Services to be given  to companies at a premium price.

We see GCT time and time again going for the one man band services (pheonix scarlet band  compass) to name a few services they have undercut to secure the services - we need a bit of rationale and to think Northstar has done a brilliant job on behalf of the taxpayer

but lets see what is the next service Dan and his team  can turnaround afterall they currently have a service in North Yorkshire!

Do we know if/how much passenger numbers have increased on the 643?  Don't use the service myself so no idea but just wondering where the idea of a turnaround has come from.

well there was a proposal of a variation of the contract a few months ago and to tweak the service

Of course GNE taking over will mean a fare increase as Im assuming NStar used Nexus fares ( yes I know its 2.5 max but nexus bus fares start at 1.90/)

(12 Jun 2025, 9:34 am)Storx wrote To be fair, GoNorthEast is absolutely hated outside the bus circles ever since the bus strikes and the reliability which has been dire since Covid pretty much. I wouldn't be surprised if people are unhappy they're taking it back over and are choosing it over the 6 because of it's timekeeping.

I know locally there's quite a few people who choose the 19 to Cramlington over the 57/57A because of the dire reliability of the Arriva services. If Arriva ran it, I'd highly doubt they'd use it.

I get that people will be disappointed that the service it changing to what they see as a poor alternative, but I dont but that they won't use it because the company providing the service has changed. They might not be happy with it, but they'll use it to get from a to b. I wasnt happy that GNE took the 342 from what had been a reliable GCT service, but I still use it as I need to.

(13 Jun 2025, 11:46 pm)Shrek wrote I get that people will be disappointed that the service it changing to what they see as a poor alternative, but I dont but that they won't use it because the company providing the service has changed. They might not be happy with it, but they'll use it to get from a to b. I wasnt happy that GNE took the 342 from what had been a reliable GCT service, but I still use it as I need to.

Aye, I get what you're saying. It's different this one though as there's other services in the area where it serves (6/301/X73) depending where you are. Reading through the lines, it seems like there's a few people who are going out their way to use the 643 as it's more reliable.

If the option is GNE on a 30 minute service vs a bus a few times a day, would people go out their way for the few times a day service - I'm unsure.

It's the same with the 19/57/57A up here. Truthfully I've done it a few times when the 57/57A is stupidly late 20+ plus late under principal as I know it'll catch it up as there's usually a reason why it's 20 minutes late and it isn't usually traffic related ie. new driver, knackered bus, stupidily small vehicle etc.