(20 Jan 2021, 10:21 pm)deanmachine Judging how easy something is to read when photos taken on a day like today is pretty funny. The livery looks fine, in person, the lettering is easy enough to read.

Only criticism is the fact that it's still an orange double decker, so doesn't stand out immediately as being that different to the Fab 56.

(20 Jan 2021, 9:54 pm)L469 YVK No mention of Consett :)

Just trying to think more realistically rather than focus on Consett where the level of demand probably isn't established enough yet to make decisions given the current climate.

6045-47 being replaced by 6084-86 (if 6071-83 get refurbished) with 6001,49,50 as backups for TVT & Crusader would make more sense.

6043-48 would then go on the 25. The 25 is a "secondary route" to speak so if it was split from the 13, the PVR of 6 would be covered. At most, they'd just need a thorough deep clean & the ex TVT examples repainted.

Then whatever is remaining from 6149-61 (depending how many is needed on 93/94) could displace older B7TL's & OmniDekkas.

So the allocation's would be

Riverside:
- 10/10A/10B/10X = 9x B9TL 
- 27 = 11X B9TL
- Spare = 2x (as well as 6377 if not needed on X9/X10)

Hexham:
- 10/10A/10B/10X = 7x B9TL
- Spare = 1x (as well as either 6336/37 if not needed on X84/X85)

Chester Le Street:
- 25 = 6x B9TL
- Spare = ??? Anything would be fine for the 25

(20 Jan 2021, 10:28 pm)Dan Yes, agreed. A photo will always be different to how it actually looks in reality too.

I think the only tricky thing with moving away from it being orange is that the 56 has always been orange. That's not to say it always has to remain orange going forward, but I think there has to be a pretty compelling case to move away from it. In this instance I'm not sure what that case would be. Reliability on service 56 is very good, so there's no need to move away from the colour to try and change the perception that it's a different/newer bus.

In a normal world, I think the orange double-decker will be perceived on Old Durham Road as being the bus that stops. Despite being some 10 months into the pandemic where express services have began to serve all stops on their route, I still don't think many people hail down an X1, as the perception was always that the red buses, now gold, don't stop.

(20 Jan 2021, 10:07 pm)mb134 Yet on some liveries, it's done brilliantly: https://flic.kr/p/2ke1jvA. Everything on that is visible easily (bar the "bring your bike" at the rear), there's a good contrast between the colour of the text and the base it's on top of. Look at that X-Lines, or any of them really, then at the CityRider and the ease of reading the text is night and day. 

I think it's been said before, but I think bus companies are becoming overreliant on Best Impressions. Some of their stuff is very good but some design elements are getting a bit stale and, with the amount they churn out, some designs will inevitably be poor.

(21 Jan 2021, 11:04 am)Xlines 6335
Go North East Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini II 6154 has returned to service after repaint

Flickr (High Resolution) : https://flic.kr/p/2kuaUWY


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(21 Jan 2021, 11:04 am)Xlines 6335
Go North East Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini II 6154 has returned to service after repaint

Flickr (High Resolution) : https://flic.kr/p/2kuaUWY


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(21 Jan 2021, 11:04 am)Xlines 6335
Go North East Volvo B9TL Wright Eclipse Gemini II 6154 has returned to service after repaint

Flickr (High Resolution) : https://flic.kr/p/2kuaUWY

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(21 Jan 2021, 11:54 am)Storx That looks really bad imo and they've gone for the lazy approach that Arriva tend to do in house. The red/blue around the windows should be black as they're designed otherwise it gives a really weird look which looks even worse on that because of the air unit.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/186695346@N05/50020443982/ - See the difference there and it looks much better imo.

(20 Jan 2021, 10:28 pm)Dan Yes, agreed. A photo will always be different to how it actually looks in reality too.

I think the only tricky thing with moving away from it being orange is that the 56 has always been orange. That's not to say it always has to remain orange going forward, but I think there has to be a pretty compelling case to move away from it. In this instance I'm not sure what that case would be. Reliability on service 56 is very good, so there's no need to move away from the colour to try and change the perception that it's a different/newer bus.

In a normal world, I think the orange double-decker will be perceived on Old Durham Road as being the bus that stops. Despite being some 10 months into the pandemic where express services have began to serve all stops on their route, I still don't think many people hail down an X1, as the perception was always that the red buses, now gold, don't stop.

(21 Jan 2021, 11:54 am)Storx That looks really bad imo and they've gone for the lazy approach that Arriva tend to do in house. The red/blue around the windows should be black as they're designed otherwise it gives a really weird look which looks even worse on that because of the air unit.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/186695346@N05/50020443982/ - See the difference there and it looks much better imo.

(21 Jan 2021, 12:05 pm)JP6004 Gasket glazing always looks horrible regardless

(21 Jan 2021, 12:52 pm)Adtrainsam Looks like GNE are repainting a Connections 4 Citaro at Saltmeadows. New brand or just a one off like the Peterlee Local Solo? Can't be the ex-Crusaders as other Citaros have the emergency exit door at the back...
https://twitter.com/Dan3942/status/1352194395076964354

(21 Jan 2021, 11:27 am)logidoodah Nice pic.  

(21 Jan 2021, 12:58 pm)JP6004 The Peterlee Local isn't a one off and rest due to be done this year. Cant say citaros look good in pink....unlike those gorgeous angel omnicities

(20 Jan 2021, 9:53 pm)streetdeckfan Obviously that was aimed at me.
To be honest, I actually quite liked the orange/red combo, but having done a quick edit with a slightly lighter orange I have to admit I do prefer it. If anything, I think it stands out more.

I also never noticed that the GNE logo is yellow. That looks bloody ridiculous. Why not just make it white. 

In fact, the closer I look at it, the less I like it



Original
Go North East Cityrider 6090 / NL63 YHT by kieron mathews, on Flickr

(21 Jan 2021, 1:41 pm)Storx https://www.flickr.com/photos/98620506@N05/48968170651 - They look alright in pink I think, similar colour aswell. Nice something bright for a change the blue was a bit drab and the connections 4 is a horrible brand.

(21 Jan 2021, 12:52 pm)Adtrainsam Looks like GNE are repainting a Connections 4 Citaro at Saltmeadows. New brand or just a one off like the Peterlee Local Solo? Can't be the ex-Crusaders as other Citaros have the emergency exit door at the back...
https://twitter.com/Dan3942/status/1352194395076964354