Vehicle Details
Registration: YJ10 MFA
Chassis: Optare Solo M880
Bodywork: Optare
Depot: United Coaches, Motherwell
Livery: Little Coasters
Year new: 2010
Vehicle History
June 2020
Go North East
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From Monday 1 June 2020, in line with guidance from the government, Go North East's bus services will start returning to what can be considered a 'normal' level of service on weekdays (albeit still reduced on weekends), also with some minor changes which had originally been planned to take place from 17 May 2020. As such, this vehicle has now been reinstated at Percy Main.
April 2020
Go North East
Following completion of all required vehicle re-allocations; this vehicle has been temporarily withdrawn from service due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been officially delicensed (SORN'd), enabling Go North East to obtain a tax refund.
July 2019
Go North East
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Following repaint, this vehicle has received "Little Coasters" branding.
July 2019
Go North East
As a result of recent service changes and consequent re-allocations, this vehicle has lost its "indiGo" branding having been repainted into a new two-tone blue base livery.
May 2019
Go North East
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In line with service changes and the introduction of new brand identities, there were a large number of vehicle re-allocations which took place on Sunday 19 May, the significance of which have been likened to the South Shields and Bishop Auckland depot closures in 2005 and 2006 respectively. This vehicle has transferred from Washington Depot to Percy Main, in order to operate "Little Coasters" service 11 and act as a spare vehicle for "Little Coasters" services 40/41/42.
August 2017
Go North East
This vehicle has been fitted with Wi-Fi, partially meeting the standard specification of the newer "indiGo" branded Optare Solo SR M925/Optare vehicles which operate on "indiGo Washington" services 81/82/83/84.
October 2016
Go North East
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This vehicle has entered service at Washington Depot, on "indiGo" services 85/86.
September 2016
Go North East
This vehicle has received "indiGo Washington" branding. It lacks the Wi-Fi and Next Stop Announcement feature 'blobs' as featured on the new Optare Solo SR M925/Optare vehicles which entered service earlier this year, as, unlike the new vehicles, it does not have either of these features.
September 2016
Go North East
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This vehicle has been repainted into a plain pink base livery. Once prepared for service; this vehicle will be allocated to Washington Depot, and the recently introduced "indiGo" brand will be expanded to encompass services 85/86.
September 2016
Go North East
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Since the withdrawal of Oxfordshire County Council subsidies on 20th July 2016, Thames Travel has been operating the Bicester Town bus services 22 and 23 on a commercial basis.
These services run at a loss of approximately £4,500 per week and therefore this decision was a temporary arrangement, while Thames Travel continued discussions with several local stakeholders to pool existing finances and resources to safeguard the longer term future of the services. The company’s proposal included extended operating hours to better meet the needs of commuters using rail services, offering improved daily links to the new Park & Ride site and providing a frequent service between the town centre, two rail stations and Bicester Village.
Unfortunately, while some stakeholders were supportive of the company’s proposals and were prepared to provide some funding for the services, others chose to pursue their own commercial interests and therefore services 22 and 23 were withdrawn from the end of service on Saturday 3rd September 2016.
The Optare Solos allocated to these services are now hence surplus to requirements at Thames Travel, and have hence been acquired by Go North East, to allow for the withdrawal of further Transbus Mini Pointer Darts from the fleet. This vehicle was new to Thames Travel in May 2010 as fleet number 410 and was later re-numbered fleet number 701. As the Go-Ahead Group purchased the company in May 2011, it is currently fitted with non-standard Mobitec destination displays. These are planned to be removed prior to entry into service at Go North East.
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April 2017
Go North East
Presently unbranded; this vehicle has returned to service at Riverside Depot, where it will see allocation to services 12/12A (Newcastle - Winlaton).
April 2015
Go North East
Ahead of its entry into service, this vehicle has been repainted into a plain red base livery.
April 2020
Go North East
In order to combat the changing demand for bus services in the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this vehicle has transferred from Riverside Depot to Consett.
April 2018
Go North East
This vehicle has been delivered to Go North East, following internal refurbishment and repaint into Go North East's corporate base livery at Bus & Coach World, Blackburn.
April 2017
Go North East
This vehicle has returned to service at Deptford Depot, where it will be allocated to "Wear Xpress" service X5 (Sunderland - Hartlepool).