Bus-Related Outings & Reviews

[Marcus Green]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
My Get Around day ticket (£3.75, valid only with a Get Around Key card) from yesterday went as follows:

#36 - My House to Houghton-le-Spring Church
(09:51 --- 10:13) - GNE 5303 - Mercedes 0530N/Mercedes Citaro
#20A - Houghton-le-Spring a Church to Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange
(10:16 --- 10:43) - GNE 5212 - Scania L94UA/Wright Solar
#9 - Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange to North Shields Town Centre
(10:50 --- 11:55) - GNE 5247 - Scania CN230UB/Scania OmniCity
#310 - North Shields Town Centre to Newcastle, Haymarket Bus Station
(12:05 --- 12:49) - GNE 6103 - Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2
#45 - Newcastle, Eldon Square to MetroCentre Interchange
(12:54 --- 13:19) - GNE 3823 - Volvo Olympian/NC Palatine 2
#X66 - MetroCentre Interchange to Gateshead Interchange
(13:28 --- 13:38) - GNE 4918 - Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
#21 - Gateshead Interchange to Chester-le-Street
(13:42 --- 14:11) - GNE 6061 - Volvo B5HL/Wright Gemini 2
#36 - Chester-le-Street to My House
(14:15 --- 14:20) - GNE 5299 - Mercedes 0530N/Mercedes Citaro

[Marcus Green]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
Yet another Get Around day ticket that I purchased today for £3.75 went like this:

#36 - My House to Houghton-le-Spring Church
(09:55 --- 10:13) - GNE 8258 - DAF SB120/Wright Cadet
#20A - Houghton-le-Spring Church to Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange
(10:16 --- 10:40) - GNE 4992 - Scania L94UA/Wright Solar
#56 - Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange to Wrekenton High Street
(10:47 --- 11:40) - GNE 6091 - Volvo B9TL/Wright Gemini 2
#52 - Wrekenton High Street to Gateshead Interchange
(11:53 --- 12:39) - GNE 8338 - Optare Versa V1110/Optare
#28 - Gateshead Interchange to Pelton Church
(13:03 --- 13:35) - GNE 4930 - Scania L94UA/Wright Solar

Paid a visit to my late grandad's grave in Pelton Church, before I walked down to Pelton Schools.

#34A - Pelton Schools to Chester-le-Street
(13:59 --- 14:06) - GNE 8302 - Optare Versa V1110/Optare
#X22 - Chester-le-Street to My House
(14:09 --- 14:13) - GNE 6016 - Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President

Had a great day.

[Marcus Green]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
Purchased yet another Get Around day ticket for £3.75 on Tuesday;

#36 - My House to Houghton-le-Spring Church
(09:51 --- 10:13) - GNE 5202 - Scania L94UB/Wright Solar
#20A - Houghton-le-Spring Church to Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange
(10:17 --- 10:42) - GNE 4968 - Scania L94UB/Wright Solar
#8 - Sunderland, Park Lane Interchange to Chester-le-Street
(10:53 --- 11:41) - GNE 4899 - Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
#78 - Chester-le-Street to Stanley Bus Station
(11:55 --- 12:28) - GNE 4904 - Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
#8 - Stanley Bus Station to Pelton Schools
(12:45 --- 13:07) - GNE 4853 - Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown
#34 - Pelton Schools to Chester-le-Street
(13:10 --- 13:17) - GNE 8302 - Optare Versa V1110/Optare
#36 - Chester-le-Street to My House
(13:40 --- 13:50) - GNE 5203 - Scania L94UB/Wright Solar

Had a great day out, and I'm going out with a friend tomorrow.

[Metroline1511]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
Last Saturday, February 28th, I did Manchester West & Bury, as follows:-

23 Stretford - Stagecoach Enviro400 19338
79 Swinton - Arriva refurbished Solo 660
37 Farnworth - First Enviro400 33704
521 Blackrod - SLT Solo 43 (Little did I know SLT had just been taken over by Rotala!)
575 Bolton - Arriva refurbished Sapphire Pulsar 2680
480 Bury - Rosso Caetano 167
Metrolink Market Street - M5000 3034
101 Wythenshawe - Stagecoach Enviro400-MMC 10424
368 Stockport - Stagecoach Enviro200 37036
370 Bank Hall Road - Arriva Pulsar 2 3092

[Wright Eclipse]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
Had a day out around North East with an Explorer Ticket,due to my phone playing up i lost all info on the reg/fleetnumber`s i had today.

Leeds > Middlesborough - Megabus Plaxton Panther
X7 Middlesborough > Peterlee - GNE Mercedes Citaro
202 Peterlee > Seaham - GNE Optare Solo SR
60 Seaham > Sunderland - GNE Wright Streetlite
9 Sunderland > North Shields - GNE Wright Renown (Ex-Oxford)
1 North Shields > Whitley Bay - GNE Plaxton President (Ex-London)
308 Whitley Bay > Blyth - Arriva Volvo B5LH
2 Blyth > Morpeth - Arriva ADL Dart
X14 Morpeth > Gosforth Cnt - Arriva ADL Enviro 400
33 Gosforth Cnt > Newcastle - Kingsley Coaches SPD Y182CFS (Ex-Lothian)
47 Newcastle > Metrocentre - GNE Wright Gemini
X66 Metrocentre > Gateshead - GNE Wright Streetlite
Metro Gateshead > Heworth
X35 Heworth > Sunderland - GNE Wright Solar
Sunderland > Leeds - Megabus Plaxton Panther

Was very happy to get a new Solo SR,is the Leather interior now Standard spec for GNE Buses now? think i preferred the old one as the leather did get very warm on this summer day. The Renown surprised me by how well it copped with the hills & managed to keep up a decent speed when going through the Tunnel,wonder if a streetlite will be able to do so well when they hit that age? Another surprise was to see a decker on service 1,but it did manage to give a decent ride (if not a little loud!),I Did see a couple of other Deckers on service 1,is this standard during school holidays or are the Scania`s playing up? The SPD was also in decent condition,vibration was an issue when it was stationary but not as bad as on the arriva MPD,what was the biggest disappointment of the day,poor leg room - awful vibration & not even the WIFI was working! The Fast Cats Solar also sounded a little rough,surely it won`t be long now until they get made into spares & Fast Cats see an upgrade?

[Metroline1511]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
Your trip above has certainly got me in the mood for my late August Bank Holiday night away in Sunderland ... on September 1st!! I was surprised about the ex-London PVL on route 1.

My own tour of Walsall & West Bromwich today was on all National Express West Midlands buses, having been chauffered to and from Stafford, as follows:-

54 Wolverhampton - long Enviro200 852
39 Walsall - refurbished Omnilink 1837
X51 Scott Arms - refurbished Enviro400 4801
5 West Bromwich - refurbished Volvo B7TL-President 4053
47a Wednesbury - mini Enviro200 760
79 Wolverhampton - refurbished Trident 4313
54 Stafford - long Enviro200 843

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
Today i did a day in Sheffield for the First Time in almost 2 Years, Here is what i ended up getting

Supertram 107
First Olive Road Wright Renown 62243 Y953 CSF
First Olive Road Wright Eclipse Gemini 37113 YK07 AYM
First Olive Road Wright Renown 60689 T871 ODT
First Olive Road Wright Eclipse Urban 60703 Y661 UKU
First Olive Road Wright Renown 60694 T876 ODT
First Olive Road Wright Streetlite 63121 SN14 DVP
TM Travel Volvo Olympian R94 LHK
First Olive Road Wright Renown 60696 T878 ODT
Supertram 122

[Metroline1511]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
So, Liverpool on August Bank Holiday, Monday 31st August. I postponed Wirral to a later Bank Holiday in favour of an increase in rides across Liverpool. Good tribute to Ruby ex-Emmerdale! Anyway, my itinerary and rides emerged as follows:-

Train Heaton Chapel to Manchester Piccadilly - Northern Rail class 150/1
Metrolink Manchester Victoria - class M5000 tram
Train Newton-le-Willows - Northern Rail 319 383
141 St Helens - HTL Solo YJ12PNR
10a Queens Drive Stoneycroft - Stagecoach Enviro300 27716
81 Childwall Five Ways - Arriva Gemini 4463
14 Liverpool - Halton MCV 10
56 Hornby Road - HTL Solo MX54KXW
68a Aigburth Vale - Arriva Enviro400 4650
500 Liverpool - Arriva Gemini 4445
27 Aintree - Arriva Enviro400 4554
17 Kirkby - Stagecoach Enviro300 27145
Train Moorfields - MerseyRail 507
Train Liverpool Central - MerseyRail 508
Train Huyton - Northern Rail 319 383
Train Manchester Victoria - Northern Rail 319 365
Metrolink Manchester Piccadilly - Metrolink M5000
Train Heaton Chapel - Northern Rail 150/2

You had prepared me as to just how many double-deckers Arriva run in Liverpool on Sundays & Bank Holidays. As you can see, I was not disappointed!

[Metroline1511]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
As hinted elsewhere, last Saturday, November 28th, I did Wilmslow & Glossop. All my trains were Northern Rail. I walked to Stockport and proceeded as follows:-

378 Wilmslow - Stagecoach Enviro400 19626
88 Altrincham - GHA Enviro200 YX64VRJ
18 Manchester Airport - Arriva VDL-Pulsar 2 3099
199 Stockport - High Peak Scania-Solar 690 refurbished to CentreBus/ High Peak spec
199 Manchester Airport - Scania-Solar 698 refurbished to Skyline spec
Train Manchester Piccadilly - class 319
Train Hyde Central - class 142
341 Glossop - Stotts slimline Solo MX07NTG
394 Hazel Grove - High Peak Solo SR 285
Train Heaton Chapel - class 156
Walk home

[Metroline1511]

RE: Bus-Related Outings & Reviews
I took advantage of the rare feat on Sunday 27th December of buses being more frequent on the Sunday than the Saturday! I went to Rochdale, and rode the following!-

22 Withington - First Volvo B9TL 37435
42 Manchester - First Streetlite 63154
181 Rochdale - First Enviro400 33686
Metrolink Exchange Square - M5000 3087
Metrolink Victoria - M5000 3108
Metrolink East Didsbury - M5000 3001
42 Bank Hall Road for home - E400H 12247
Walk home