28 Jan 2018, 5:24 pm
#352
(28 Jan 2018, 9:05 am)Dan Haha, yes. Quite a sizeable number of movements, will keep us all busy trying to keep on top of them all for photos etc!
Not a day of rest for me, but will knock something together tonight to get our fleet lists up to date.
As promised:
The transfer of the operation of the Monday - Saturday daytime M6/M7/M8 services has seen the transfer of Metrocentre Mini Solos 710 - 714 to Riverside, as well as fleet livery Solo SR 648, which will act as the spare vehicle for the services. This will allow for further cascades; but up to now, the only resultant cascade is 638 to Deptford, releasing 628 back to Riverside.
The transfer of the operation of the 516 service has seen the transfer of 637 from Riverside to Deptford.
The transfer of the operation of the Cathedral Bus 40/40A/40B services has resulted in the transfer of 707 and 708 to Chester-le-Street from Stanley.
In line with the service changes today, 5305 - 5309 have, on paper, also now transferred from Deptford to Riverside (in reality, 5305/07 never returned to Deptford, while 5306/09 only returned from refurbishment on Friday, and 5308 only returned from refurbishment today), while 5325 has also transferred from Deptford to Riverside in line with the service changes in South Tyneside today, in order to allow a consistent allocation of high-specification Mercedes Citaros to the 12/12A, 26/27 and 57 services.
Surplus to requirements at Riverside as a result of today's service changes, all of the "South Tyne" branded Optare Versas should be temporarily withdrawn from service now. It may be that some are retained at Riverside until 5305 - 5309 are all in service (5305 hopefully back in service tomorrow, 5307 should enter service tomorrow following completion of AVID exhaust modifications, 5306 was branded yesterday but requires some other work to be completed at Saltmeadows Road prior to returning to service, 5309 should be branded tomorrow, while 5308 is likely to be branded on Wednesday).
8295 has now been repainted into fleet livery and has transferred from Riverside Depot to Crook. At the moment it hasn't surfaced at Crook (with 8302 and 8326 being allocated to Crook 'on loan' at the moment). This allows the conversion of service 18 from minibus to midibus. It's also due to be joined by 8307 from Riverside, which has transferred as a result of the Optare Versa loan vehicle being allocated to Riverside for use on the 67/69 services, but again, is still currently at Chester-le-Street.
The conversion of service 18 from minibus to midibus has resulted in the trasnfer of 695 to Chester-le-Street (to be allocated to service 34, releasing 5209 to Deptford), and 696 to Stanley (allowing 706 to transfer to Chester-le-Street for use on the new Durham County Council contracted town services in Chester-le-Street). As the Durham Cathedral Bus contract requires a small size vehicle to be allocated due to the nature of the route, 695 can be allocated to the Chester-le-Street Town Service, if any of the 'baby' Solos are off the road, with service 34 being allocated another bus.
Following repaint, 5263 is another Scania OmniCity to transfer to Washington. This will, but hasn't yet, enable the transfer of 5338 to Deptford (joining 5337 which was allocated to Deptford on return from refurbishment, having already been replaced at Washington by 5262). 5261 is the third fleet livery OmniCity due to transfer to Washington, but is currently undergoing accident damage repairs at Saltmeadows Road. This will enable 5324 to transfer to Riverside.
