07 Aug 2016, 4:28 pm
#163
(07 Aug 2016, 8:51 am)Michael With the metro replacement service finishing has the B7's gone back to Stanley to withdraw the Lolynes and allowing other buses to move else where?
(07 Aug 2016, 9:28 am)Jamie M This would make stanley's allocation issue worse - as things stand there is a gain of 5 vehicles (excl. 5170), and a loss of 8 vehicles (Loyne/Olympians/darts (547 is gone riverside, not sure of 553)). This would make stanley short of 3 vehicles.
To confirm - Stanley are not short of any vehicles at the moment. They actually have one extra bus in the fleet at the moment (5170).
Volvo B10BLE 4896 is in a float capacity at Stanley - covering for 5292 which is long-term VOR.
Volvo B7TL 6024 is also in a float capacity at Stanley - covering for 3873 until a more long-term replacement can be sourced.
MPD 547's withdrawal has been outstanding since 553 transferred to Stanley from Percy Main - the latter should be used on the Tesco Free Bus (and was yesterday). It was retained at Stanley to help cover for vehicle shortages, but more recently, pending the result of Nexus contracts. As a number of contracts were gained, it was transferred to Riverside for use on service 33 (Newcastle - Hollywood Avenue). As 547 was replaced by another bus a few months ago, Stanley are not short of minibuses.
The entry into service of 3995 and 3996 has allowed 4903 (which was covering for 3874 itself) to be withdrawn 4925 (which was covering for 3880 itself) to be used in a float/reserve capacity. 4925 was used at Deptford over the Sunderland Airshow weekend for use on a special Park & Ride service, but has since transferred to Riverside for the duration of the Metro Replacement work (allowing dual-door Volvo B7s normally allocated to Nexus Misc. Works to be released for use on Metro Replacements). I understand it's likely to be retained for a little bit longer, as Go North East has been awarded with another contract to operate shuttle services for the Tall Ships event in Blyth later this month. The same applies to other Volvo B10BLEs in the fleet which have been temporarily retained.
Following use on the Metro Replacement services, Volvo B7TLs 6009, 6012, 6013, 6014 and 6016 have now returned to service at Stanley. Scania OmniDekkas 6136, 6137, 6138 and 6139 have been retained at Stanley. These will replace an equal number of Dennis Tridents and Volvo Olympians, but again, these are subject to be retained until the Tall Ships event in Blyth is finished. 6140 has transferred to Chester-le-Street, replacing Trident 3875 which was withdrawn a few weeks back.
Hopefully that clears up a few things?
