28 Aug 2017, 1:45 pm
#402
(28 Aug 2017, 12:51 pm)Andreos1 A big chunk of Solars across the fleet were done in or around Sept 14.
https://cbwmagazine.com/go-north-east-up...echnology/
These included the purple Solars.
Anything prior to then were upgrades to Euro 3 (if I remember correctly).
Yes, the upgrade was from Euro 3 to Euro 5. Examples fitted were branded for the Prince Bishops, Fast Cats, The Highwayman and The Loop.
The buses upgraded on The Highwayman and The Loop have remained on the routes which they were allocated to when they first received these modifications, but the examples upgraded on the Prince Bishops and Fast Cats are now scattered around the patch. In my opinion it is nothing but a coincidence, if the buses upgraded have remained within an operating area which falls under the original local authority.
You touched upon this in a discussion with eezypeazy earlier this year (see discussion
here) - I think eezypeazy probably hit the nail on the head when he suggested that the Local Authority probably wouldn't be too concerned, if the routes which were originally upgraded would receive more environmentally-friendly buses with less emissions (with no further contribution from them required - in the example of the Prince Bishops, Go North East invested £3.7m in these buses off their own back).
As it's an interest of yours, as you said in your OP, I will also give my view.
I doubt there will be a huge increase in the sale value of the buses involved - the investment by Go North East in this project (barring any funding received from Local Authorities) meant that the book value on these buses increased, and it will take a longer time for these to depreciate.
So really, it would seem the company has two options:
- Dispose of the Scania L94s upgraded in line with their age, when cascades become available, and potentially not make as great a profit on selling the bus (if the NBV is not £0, due to the book value increasing when the modifications were made)
- These buses remain in the fleet for a longer period of time to allow the asset to fully depreciate, and potentially have trouble selling the bus on to another operator at the higher price you would expect, due to the fact the bus is so old.
