(24 Feb 2015, 8:58 pm)Jackamcardle Thanks Micheal, I hope to be in amongst you all during this exiting time!

(24 Feb 2015, 8:59 pm)MarcTheA4 Excuse my manners, welcome to the forum!

(24 Feb 2015, 9:02 pm)Jackamcardle Thanks Marc, I look forward to talking will you all in the near future!

(24 Feb 2015, 10:07 pm)Robert It does however mean your suggestion would work. Judging by the highwayman and how there would be two spares, there are 13 branded citaros. If my maths is correct 13 - 9 = 4 meaning you have enough for both the Tynedalexpress and the West Durham Swifts (a brand which id love to see reintroduced).

(24 Feb 2015, 10:23 pm)Greg in Weardale PVR of X70/71 must be five now as although there's a theoretical  layover of two minutes at Consett there always seems to be a fresh bus depart and the incoming vehicle lays over for 32 minutes to form the next working.

(24 Feb 2015, 10:24 pm)Robert I shall check and get back to you on that one.

(24 Feb 2015, 10:25 pm)Arcticrossy92 Anyone no of the specifications of the new vehicles coming in, will they have Wi-Fi and are they the same layout etc of the current examples of streetlites in the fleet?

(24 Feb 2015, 10:33 pm)Michael I would imagine they will all have WIFI.

Sockets/USB - Lime and Red Kite (X66 to short) 

Route Announcements - I would say, Due to DDA rules, even though the X66 only stops at Gateshead and Metrocentre, means its gonna be fun if anyone ever does half of the 8 or 78 route!

As for layout... i would go for the same way as the Drifter version. 

Citaro might be kind enough and confirm that for you   

(24 Feb 2015, 10:40 pm)aureolin I remember when the Scania artics first entered service, and you got an X66 introduction, with bit of music for your journey. Robbie Williams - Millenium was one of the tunes that springs to mind!

(24 Feb 2015, 10:28 pm)Robert Nope, it is just 4. Doing the calculations neccessary you end up with 3.8 which rounds up to4.

(24 Feb 2015, 10:28 pm)Robert Nope, it is just 4. Doing the calculations neccessary you end up with 3.8 which rounds up to4.

(24 Feb 2015, 8:02 pm)citaro5284 The new Streetlites due between March and May will be deployed on three groups of services: The X66 and Lime as many have guessed, but also the Red Kites.

Now, let the guessing commence as to where the Scania Omnicities will be heading to.....

(25 Feb 2015, 8:03 am)Dan I can confirm that Greg in Weardale is correct: the PVR is 5. Buses have a 32-minute layover at Consett Bus Station, which is why the PVR is not 4. The vehicle allocation is three Dennis Tridents and two OmniCitys. Tridents are more-or-less guaranteed on the 0854 departure from Consett as this works off college service X78 and scholars 822, while the 1454 arrival at Consett works onto scholars 827. The other board which is allocated a Trident catches the morning peak customers and presumably requires a double-decked vehicle to alleviate capacity issues on a single decker.

The PVR of services X30/X31 is also 5 vehicles, and the vehicle allocation is four Dennis Tridents and one OmniCity.

As only three OmniCitys of Stanley's four form part of their vehicle allocation, the depot has one spare OmniCity which should see primary allocation to "Red Kite" services 45/46 in the event that a branded vehicle is unavailable. 

Sorry to spoil the fun - but if the former "West Durham Swift" services were ever to receive an upgrade, there's a high likelihood it would be in the form of double decked vehicles all around. There are some runs which need a double decked vehicle due to interworking with scholars, and others should be allocated a double decked vehicle so that people can have a seat on their peak time commute.

(25 Feb 2015, 4:29 pm)Greg in Weardale You can't really calculate PVR by a formula, and it's not necessarily possible to do it manually via the timetable as you don't know when buses may appear off other routes. You really have to have access to the companies' driver boards.

(25 Feb 2015, 4:23 pm)Robert So the boards have been changed again. I base this on that you have always argued that all four omnicities should be allocated to services X70/X71 and all 5 Dennis Trident Presidents (first choice) should have been allocated to services X30/X31. It now appears that this isn't the case...
I'll also say that the timetable therefore states that one vehicle is entering Consett while another is loading up. Shows that that method regarding PVR workouts isnt the case so i am sure you will be able to understand where i went wrong.

(25 Feb 2015, 4:31 pm)Robert You can and it works most of the time but obviously you cant be certain it will work 100% of the time.

(25 Feb 2015, 4:37 pm)Dan Greg in Weardale has a point.

The 'formula' (total running time divided by service frequency) mightn't work if the buses have a slightly unusual interworking pattern and/or extended layover periods. For the same reason as the X70/X71, you may struggle to work out the PVR of the revised 20/20A, as they have a fair amount of layover at each end. Both can be identified without the company's running boards - you just have to be sad enough to stand at a terminus point for long enough to gather the information and work it out..!  

(25 Feb 2015, 5:24 pm)Robert  Completely agree and i thinkthe X70/X71 is the perfect example for his point. Obviously, if you were to add the 32 min layover into the formula, you would get 4.xx or even 5. Obviously, with me not being a 'taking photos' sort of person, i dont follow this layover malarkey s much but when i get told, i certainly dont throw it out of the window.

(25 Feb 2015, 5:59 pm)Malarkey Dont you just hate it when your surname is used in a sentence in another persons post  , I would be a Millionaire perhaps even Billionaire if I had a quid on my surname being mentioned in sentence/conversation or on tv, happens more often than you think you know.