North East Buses

2836 has now been repainted and is back in service at Darlington.

(21 Jun 2014, 9:46 pm)John_R wrote [ -> ]2836 has now been repainted and is back in service at Darlington.

2836 has been bk in service frm repaint a few weeks now glad to hear darlo are f
getting some streetlites

Does anyone know if 4510 is getting repainted,its the only one left in the 45 series to carry original features or are they due to be scrapped,i know 4511 is basically rotting apart and has a severe smell of damp,i dread getting on it and 4510 is going the same way,but 4512-15 dont smell at all presumably due to its interior refurbishments,4517/18 are starting to smell too ive noticed a few times its leaking windows

(21 Jun 2014, 10:56 pm)V514DFT wrote [ -> ]Does anyone know if 4510 is getting repainted,its the only one left in the 45 series to carry original features or are they due to be scrapped,i know 4511 is basically rotting apart and has a severe smell of damp,i dread getting on it and 4510 is going the same way,but 4512-15 dont smell at all presumably due to its interior refurbishments,4517/18 are starting to smell too ive noticed a few times its leaking windows

4510 is off to Redcar soon, though as it's not DDA I can't see it getting a refurb now.

(20 Jun 2014, 4:43 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]Sadly this is a normal occurrence.
Often services using stand J will often arrive early and another bus is on that stand, so they pull onto stand K which often results in Service 7 using stand L which means services 20/20A/40 pull in next to the stand.

Could drivers also turn up early for there shift instead of turning up one minute before the bus is due out which means the bus leaves late and buses have to pull onto the wrong stands.

With regards to stand J, it's very close timings for that stand:

43 - Arr 53 Dep 00
24 - Arr 02 Dep 07
43 - Arr 08 Dep 15
22 - Arr 17 Dep 22 and so on, doesn't take much to cause a blockage, however I don't see the problem with drivers waiting on the set down stand until the stand is clear then pulling onto the correct stand on time.

(20 Jun 2014, 7:18 pm)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]It usually not too bad when I've been there, drivers are often wondering around but that's because of layover time between journeys on Services 1/5/5A.

Does anyone know how driver changeovers are done for Service 87.

For service 87, we are required to travel passenger on a service 6 from Durham to Bishop Auckland and vice versa; however should a bus break down or run late there are issues.

(21 Jun 2014, 11:09 am)tyresmoke wrote [ -> ]Some good news that has come to light in the past few weeks is that an additional order has been gained which sees 9x 8.8m Streetlites on order for Darlington services 13a/13b, bringing the total new vehicles to 61 for 2014 for the North East. These will help to displace the rest of the older Mini Darts, with 5 05-plate MPDs due to move to Blyth to replace their remaining non DDA Darts.

Is the 8.8m the door forward type? These will be welcomed as at the moment a number of old darts feature on here which is a come down from the Solos that were normally on this service until Darlington started to loose its Solos.These buses plus the possible 5 11.5 Streetlites due next year for Darlo X1 are a further investment

(22 Jun 2014, 7:47 am)upt50k wrote [ -> ]Is the 8.8m the door forward type? These will be welcomed as at the moment a number of old darts feature on here which is a come down from the Solos that were normally on this service until Darlington started to loose its Solos.These buses plus the possible 5 11.5 Streetlites due next year for Darlo X1 are a further investment

8.8m is the Wheel Forward version

(22 Jun 2014, 7:47 am)upt50k wrote [ -> ]Is the 8.8m the door forward type? These will be welcomed as at the moment a number of old darts feature on here which is a come down from the Solos that were normally on this service until Darlington started to loose its Solos.These buses plus the possible 5 11.5 Streetlites due next year for Darlo X1 are a further investment

Will the order for Darlo X1 be in max livery or standard?

(22 Jun 2014, 8:59 am)buznut wrote [ -> ]Will the order for Darlo X1 be in max livery or standard?

It's entirely dependent on what orders we can win next year but they would be to Max specification.

As posted in the Scarlet Band thread - they have indeed won the contract to operate the Durham Park & Ride services, with new vehicles required.
The fall out from this will mean that the 10 Solo's in the Arriva fleet that currently operate it will be no longer required after service on 26th October. I am told that 2852-2861 are leased though, and therefore they will simply return to the leasing company (whoever that may be, I have a feeling it may be Mistral) and will not be available for cascade elsewhere.

When the SPD's and other darts/MPD's are withdrawn from Darlington, what are their replacements to be (except the MAX omnicities and Streetlite's)? The numbers don't seem to add up. Cascades from somewhere?

(22 Jun 2014, 8:06 pm)JoshP wrote [ -> ]When the SPD's and other darts/MPD's are withdrawn from Darlington, what are their replacements to be (except the MAX omnicities and Streetlite's)? The numbers don't seem to add up. Cascades from somewhere?

Yes they are due the 5 Solo's from Durham (replaced off service 23) and 4 Darts from Redcar (1305-1308), plus of course their 8 Streetlites and 5 Max Scanias from Redcar

Will all of the B10BLE'S from Ashington and Jesmond be moving south this year or will they keep some of them?

(22 Jun 2014, 8:14 pm)tyresmoke wrote [ -> ]Yes they are due the 5 Solo's from Durham (replaced off service 23) and 4 Darts from Redcar (1305-1308), plus of course their 8 Streetlites and 5 Max Scanias from Redcar

Ahh thanks for that, will the Solos be repainted into Interurban livery? (I'm assuming they're still in the old livery)

(22 Jun 2014, 8:21 pm)mb134 wrote [ -> ]Will all of the B10BLE'S from Ashington and Jesmond be moving south this year or will they keep some of them?

Some will be staying in Northumberland - 6 are due to move from Ashington to Stockton, with 2 to Redcar, plus 5 from Jesmond's fleet to Redcar making 7 there.

(22 Jun 2014, 8:21 pm)JoshP wrote [ -> ]Ahh thanks for that, will the Solos be repainted into Interurban livery? (I'm assuming they're still in the old livery)

Expected to be 2803/4/5/7/8 so 2805 is painted already, the others will get painted in due course I am sure.

(20 Jun 2014, 7:23 pm)VolvoMarkII wrote [ -> ]If they can make it pay by carrying next to nothing, they are doing well.

Its the same as the H66, A66, Sunday 77 and the extra 45's. Judging by the peak time loads i've witnessed, they are definitely not 'paying'. 2 passengers on a peak trip is woeful.

Its only a matter of time before Mr Proctor withdraws his chequebook and Leven Valley curl back into their shell again.

Well I've seen decent loads on the Teesside Parks. It might help the 45 if Middlesbrough Council pulled their finger out and put the new times up in the bus station, which should have been done two months ago next week.

(23 Jun 2014, 5:14 pm)Roland Pratt wrote [ -> ]Well I've seen decent loads on the Teesside Parks. It might help the 45 if Middlesbrough Council pulled their finger out and put the new times up in the bus station, which should have been done two months ago next week.

While for the Abbotts X80 they have stuck up an operator timetable on the main board while for the X93 it directs passengers to look on the stand for the summer times. How standards have fallen, not to mention the other night both the ladies and gents downstairs toilets were out of order and the upstairs disabled. The lift was out of order a few days ago as well.

With regard to Fleet changes.
Whats gone for referb now 7608/11 are now back in service?
Has anymore enviro 400 gone for sapphire makeover?

Theres a X93 timetable in stand 9 and X80 is also inc on normal timetable and on screen for good few weeks

(22 Jun 2014, 6:39 pm)tyresmoke wrote [ -> ]As posted in the Scarlet Band thread - they have indeed won the contract to operate the Durham Park & Ride services, with new vehicles required.
The fall out from this will mean that the 10 Solo's in the Arriva fleet that currently operate it will be no longer required after service on 26th October. I am told that 2852-2861 are leased though, and therefore they will simply return to the leasing company (whoever that may be, I have a feeling it may be Mistral) and will not be available for cascade elsewhere.

I did not realise that the solos were rented as they have seats trimmed in Arriva colours When Scarlet Band lost the contract last time they bought some of the Solos off rent at a favourable rate.Would Arriva been able have been able to do the same if they had a use for them? They have not had a particularly hard life on park and ride duties

What was the reasoning behind painting the ex-midlands Olympians red at Ashington in 2012? I've been wondering for a while, was there some kind of intended new livery that never took off?

4645 is currently on service X66 with a broken front LED screen.

Nexus liveried 2802 on the 2, has this moved to Blyth or is it just a temporary thing?

(25 Jun 2014, 12:11 pm)mb134 wrote [ -> ]Nexus liveried 2802 on the 2, has this moved to Blyth or is it just a temporary thing?

Just a temporary loan from Jesmond

(25 Jun 2014, 11:58 am)Jimmi wrote [ -> ]4645 is currently on service X66 with a broken front LED screen.

Seems to be working now.

Redcar daf 4092 overheated today decided to drop its coolant at Redcar Morrisons after I informed driver smoke was coming through the back seat!

I've heard reports of my little beast, 4653, breaking down at Haltwhistle on the 685 earlier.

When the Darlo darts vanish and the Streetlite's/omnicities enter does this mean that (except the 1s/2/5s/7/13s/x26/x27/x66 [pulsar/Omni/streetlite/Ecocity]) all the services will be exclusively solos and the ex London darts?

(25 Jun 2014, 7:03 pm)JoshP wrote [ -> ]When the Darlo darts vanish and the Streetlite's/omnicities enter does this mean that (except the 1s/2/5s/7/13s/x26/x27/x66 [pulsar/Omni/streetlite/Ecocity]) all the services will be exclusively solos and the ex London darts?

Well a change of plan, rough details as follows...

The 9 Streetlites have been cancelled for Darlington as 6 Volvo B9TLs have been purchased for the X93 instead, as it was felt this service was a higher priority to sort out. Darlington will gain the 10 Park & Ride Solos which have been purchased as a replacement for them.

That should give Darlington a fleet of Solos/Darts for town work, plus the Ecocities, and then the Scanias and Pulsars for longer routes.