Go North East - Future Order Predictions
Go North East - Future Order Predictions
(05 Dec 2022, 2:19 pm)nova347 One thing I hate about E400MMC's, is that stupid AC vent at the front upstairs, first of all, its so loud and even when it's freezing outside it is still on. Like I don't think the E400MMC's even have any heating or if they do it's shit as they're also so cold.The blow air heating on the Streetdecks is great, it blows down on top of you. It's a shame they didn't put adjustable vents up there as well!
(05 Dec 2022, 2:19 pm)nova347 One thing I hate about E400MMC's, is that stupid AC vent at the front upstairs, first of all, its so loud and even when it's freezing outside it is still on. Like I don't think the E400MMC's even have any heating or if they do it's shit as they're also so cold.The blow air heating on the Streetdecks is great, it blows down on top of you. It's a shame they didn't put adjustable vents up there as well!
(05 Dec 2022, 5:05 pm)streetdeckfan The blow air heating on the Streetdecks is great, it blows down on top of you. It's a shame they didn't put adjustable vents up there as well!
Sent from my SM-F721B using Tapatalk
(05 Dec 2022, 5:05 pm)streetdeckfan The blow air heating on the Streetdecks is great, it blows down on top of you. It's a shame they didn't put adjustable vents up there as well!
Sent from my SM-F721B using Tapatalk
Given how horrendously the seats of the newer X-Lines vehicles have aged, with any new orders are we likely to see a return full leather, or at least a darker colour scheme to hide the grime?
I'm currently on 6099 and despite being refurbished 3 years ago it's still in better nick than the StreetDecks or E400s.
(07 Dec 2022, 5:06 pm)streetdeckfan Given how horrendously the seats of the newer X-Lines vehicles have aged, with any new orders are we likely to see a return full leather, or at least a darker colour scheme to hide the grime?I like the interior of the Xlines buses, but I agree the cream hasn't aged well. Really they need to stick with one interior, within like the last 6 years theres been 4 or 5 different interiors.
I'm currently on 6099 and despite being refurbished 3 years ago it's still in better nick than the StreetDecks or E400s.
(07 Dec 2022, 5:06 pm)streetdeckfan Given how horrendously the seats of the newer X-Lines vehicles have aged, with any new orders are we likely to see a return full leather, or at least a darker colour scheme to hide the grime?I like the interior of the Xlines buses, but I agree the cream hasn't aged well. Really they need to stick with one interior, within like the last 6 years theres been 4 or 5 different interiors.
I'm currently on 6099 and despite being refurbished 3 years ago it's still in better nick than the StreetDecks or E400s.
XLines X21 - E400EV
11x Newcastle - West Auckland (30 mins layover in Newcastle to charge as on a full charge it can only do the trip twice max)
Simplicity 42|43 - E200EV
5x Silksworth - Sunderland (every 15 mins combined)
Connections 2|3 - E200EV
7x Sunderland - Washington (every 30 mins)
Connections 4 - eCitaro
19 x Heworth - Sunderland (every 15 mins combined)
4 - Heworth - Houghton - Doxford Park - Sunderland (every 30 mins)
4A Heworth - Houghton - Doxford Park (39A Route to Sunderland Park Lane)
6 - MCV Evora
9x Lanchester/Stanley - Newcastle (every 30 mins)
Tyne Valley Ten 10|10A|10B - StreetDeck FCEV
20x Newcastle - Blackhall Mill/Low Prudhoe/Hexham (every 10 mins combined)
Prince Bishops 20 - E200EV
9x Sunderland - Durham (every 15 mins)
Angel 21 - StreetDeck FCEV
20x Newcastle - Chester-Le-Street either Ouston (hourly) or Waldridge Park (hourly) | Newcastle - Durham/Brandon (every 30 mins) | Newcastle - Bowburn Amazon (every 30 mins)
Blaydon Racer 49|49A E200 EV
9x Gateshead - Winlaton (every 15 mins combined)
CityRider 56 StreetDeck FCEV
11x Sunderland - Newcastle (every 15 mins)
Drifter 60|61|62 Wrightbus GB KITE ELECTROLINER BEV or E200EV
7x 60 Parkside - Sunderland (every 12 mins)
3x 61 Sunderland - Murton (every 30 mins)
3x 62 Sunderland - Doxford Park - A19 - New Seaham - Dawdon - Murton - Easington - Peterlee (every 60 mins) (39 way to Doxford)
Coast & Country 78 MCV Evora
7x Sunderland to Consett
Cobalt & Coast 309|310|311 StreetDeck FCEV
17x Newcastle - Hadrian Park | North Shields | Blyth
Overall Changes
Red Kite Ranger 47
Upgraded to Volvo B5TL Wright Eclipse Gemini 3 (Ex-XLines X21) (PVR 7, 1 Spare)
East Gateshead Rider 58
Upgraded to Wright StreetDeck Micro Hybrid (Ex-Angel) (PVR 7)
East Gateshead Loop 93/94
Upgraded to Wright StreetDeck Micro Hybrid (Ex-Angel) (PVR 9)
Country Ranger 8
Upgraded to Wright Streetlites (Ex - 6 (66 plates)) (PVR 6, 1 Spare)
35
Upgraded to Wright Streetlites or Mercedes Citaros (Ex Connections 4 or Prince Bishops) (PVR 8, 2 Spare)
Wright Gemini 2
31x Placed on School Routes/Spare buses/327
Xlines X71/72
6x StreetDeck (ex X45/46)
Xlines X1
2x StreetDeck (ex X45/46) there could be a further expansion of X1 route.
6350|6351
Painted to Xlines Charcoal (X10 Spare & Other Spare)
Xlines X5|X15
4x Wright StreetDeck (ex Angel)
34
Reduced to every 30 mins (PVR 2)
Angel 21
Extended to Durham every 15 mins, 2ph to Brandon, 2ph to Bowburn Amazon. Extended 1ph Waldridge Park, 1ph to Ouston
Sunderland & District Graphite
Every 15 Mins Combined
39 Sunderland Park Lane - Pennywell
39A Sunderland Park Lane - Pennywell (different route)
Withdrawn -
8x Wright Streetlite (Drifter)
4x Mercedes Citaro (Violet)
11x Optare Versa (Berries)
21x Optare Versa (Corporate)
7x Wright Eclipse Gemini (Corporate)
Issues -
16|16A|16B|27 will all need new/used buses
(21 Dec 2022, 10:52 am)Unber43 I really love the look of the GB Kite, I hope GNE will get some
(21 Dec 2022, 10:52 am)Unber43 I really love the look of the GB Kite, I hope GNE will get some
GNE seem to be really struggling atm tbf.
as someone mentioned TVT 7 are off, probs more, RK Rangers have awful reliablity, 11 Plate/12 Plate Deckers are struggling, especially with the hybrids. Drifters/Ex Saltwell Parks are struggling too. even the 15/16 plates lites are.
Wonder if GNE engineering is just poor, I heard a driver say about a bus, its had a new engine, they should have got their money back (no idea for vehicle just heard it while passing)
They need a huge order, ordering about 150 buses between 2011-2013 has done them no good
(30 Mar 2023, 5:25 pm)Unber43 GNE seem to be really struggling atm tbf.
as someone mentioned TVT 7 are off, probs more, RK Rangers have awful reliablity, 11 Plate/12 Plate Deckers are struggling, especially with the hybrids. Drifters/Ex Saltwell Parks are struggling too. even the 15/16 plates lites are.
Wonder if GNE engineering is just poor, I heard a driver say about a bus, its had a new engine, they should have got their money back (no idea for vehicle just heard it while passing)
They need a huge order, ordering about 150 buses between 2011-2013 has done them no good
(30 Mar 2023, 5:25 pm)Unber43 GNE seem to be really struggling atm tbf.
as someone mentioned TVT 7 are off, probs more, RK Rangers have awful reliablity, 11 Plate/12 Plate Deckers are struggling, especially with the hybrids. Drifters/Ex Saltwell Parks are struggling too. even the 15/16 plates lites are.
Wonder if GNE engineering is just poor, I heard a driver say about a bus, its had a new engine, they should have got their money back (no idea for vehicle just heard it while passing)
They need a huge order, ordering about 150 buses between 2011-2013 has done them no good
(30 Mar 2023, 8:14 pm)Malarkey If you look at the fleet on paper the large majority of it is either at Mid-Life or approaching Life-Expired if your looking at anything purchased before 2015 and I would agree in a huge order being needed to replace what they have currently....particularly at Deptford which has become the scrapyard for old buses following ULEZ being introduced in Newcastle.See this is why I don't get sending 6334/6335 down to GNW, we need them here. The GNE fleet is not in a very good state. Like the Ominicities were old, Ill give them that but they're way better than a lot of buses GNE have in service now, for me so were the Mercedes, in my opinion, they're better than the verses, and a lot of the streetlites. But ordering over 100 buses for 2013, means that 100 buses will need replacing in a similar time period. Because I can tell you right now those streetlites arent going to last 15-20 years. Drifters are 10 year olds and most of them are barely holding on.
Furthermore since 2019/2020 when there was a last a sizeable order only 9 new buses have been purchased with support of Government Grants of course for the Yutong E12's on the Q3, everything else that has come in has been from elsewhere in the Go-Ahead Group yet we still have those Ex-Brighton Omnidekka's hanging on for dear life doing circuits on the 93/94 because there are that many Euro 6 Buses VOR at Riverside the Loops are being allocated here, there and everywhere.
(30 Mar 2023, 8:14 pm)Malarkey If you look at the fleet on paper the large majority of it is either at Mid-Life or approaching Life-Expired if your looking at anything purchased before 2015 and I would agree in a huge order being needed to replace what they have currently....particularly at Deptford which has become the scrapyard for old buses following ULEZ being introduced in Newcastle.See this is why I don't get sending 6334/6335 down to GNW, we need them here. The GNE fleet is not in a very good state. Like the Ominicities were old, Ill give them that but they're way better than a lot of buses GNE have in service now, for me so were the Mercedes, in my opinion, they're better than the verses, and a lot of the streetlites. But ordering over 100 buses for 2013, means that 100 buses will need replacing in a similar time period. Because I can tell you right now those streetlites arent going to last 15-20 years. Drifters are 10 year olds and most of them are barely holding on.
Furthermore since 2019/2020 when there was a last a sizeable order only 9 new buses have been purchased with support of Government Grants of course for the Yutong E12's on the Q3, everything else that has come in has been from elsewhere in the Go-Ahead Group yet we still have those Ex-Brighton Omnidekka's hanging on for dear life doing circuits on the 93/94 because there are that many Euro 6 Buses VOR at Riverside the Loops are being allocated here, there and everywhere.
(30 Mar 2023, 8:14 pm)Malarkey If you look at the fleet on paper the large majority of it is either at Mid-Life or approaching Life-Expired if your looking at anything purchased before 2015 and I would agree in a huge order being needed to replace what they have currently....particularly at Deptford which has become the scrapyard for old buses following ULEZ being introduced in Newcastle.
Furthermore since 2019/2020 when there was a last a sizeable order only 9 new buses have been purchased with support of Government Grants of course for the Yutong E12's on the Q3, everything else that has come in has been from elsewhere in the Go-Ahead Group yet we still have those Ex-Brighton Omnidekka's hanging on for dear life doing circuits on the 93/94 because there are that many Euro 6 Buses VOR at Riverside the Loops are being allocated here, there and everywhere.
(30 Mar 2023, 8:14 pm)Malarkey If you look at the fleet on paper the large majority of it is either at Mid-Life or approaching Life-Expired if your looking at anything purchased before 2015 and I would agree in a huge order being needed to replace what they have currently....particularly at Deptford which has become the scrapyard for old buses following ULEZ being introduced in Newcastle.
Furthermore since 2019/2020 when there was a last a sizeable order only 9 new buses have been purchased with support of Government Grants of course for the Yutong E12's on the Q3, everything else that has come in has been from elsewhere in the Go-Ahead Group yet we still have those Ex-Brighton Omnidekka's hanging on for dear life doing circuits on the 93/94 because there are that many Euro 6 Buses VOR at Riverside the Loops are being allocated here, there and everywhere.
(30 Mar 2023, 8:48 pm)Storx I'm not sure age is the only reason mind. Arriva Blyth's Gemini's are older than what's mentioned here and have been rat arsed on Blyth Expresses for their whole life yet there's only 4 / 31 been VOR today and only 1 / 11 of the Pulsar's.I always here Deptford drivers complaining about writing things on the card, and telling them and nothing changes. Like the Prince Bishops that cant go over 20/30 all the drivers say they told them that something needs to be done and nothing is ever. Like the weekly ticket plastic sleeve things, the amount of times I see them holding things together, holding wing mirrors on, holding the back access board for the destination display to stop it for bouncing and rattling at Deptford. One of the old Citaros had one on the fuel cap thing or whatever, as it kept swinging out. Like it was the wing mirror one that was just like WTF. Look at the Drifters, barely 10 years old and the Ominiciities, Omnidekkas perform better.
I'm not one for spreading rumours but there's been a lot of talk from driver's, at Deptford in particular, about not fixing things and botching things. There's only so many times you can botch things before they become serious problems.
There's also noticeable trends that certain depots are worse than others; Riverside and Darlington (Arriva) in particular. Anything that seems to turn up here from Darlington is a wreck.
(30 Mar 2023, 8:48 pm)Storx I'm not sure age is the only reason mind. Arriva Blyth's Gemini's are older than what's mentioned here and have been rat arsed on Blyth Expresses for their whole life yet there's only 4 / 31 been VOR today and only 1 / 11 of the Pulsar's.I always here Deptford drivers complaining about writing things on the card, and telling them and nothing changes. Like the Prince Bishops that cant go over 20/30 all the drivers say they told them that something needs to be done and nothing is ever. Like the weekly ticket plastic sleeve things, the amount of times I see them holding things together, holding wing mirrors on, holding the back access board for the destination display to stop it for bouncing and rattling at Deptford. One of the old Citaros had one on the fuel cap thing or whatever, as it kept swinging out. Like it was the wing mirror one that was just like WTF. Look at the Drifters, barely 10 years old and the Ominiciities, Omnidekkas perform better.
I'm not one for spreading rumours but there's been a lot of talk from driver's, at Deptford in particular, about not fixing things and botching things. There's only so many times you can botch things before they become serious problems.
There's also noticeable trends that certain depots are worse than others; Riverside and Darlington (Arriva) in particular. Anything that seems to turn up here from Darlington is a wreck.
Is this not just a case of preventative v reactive maintenance?
As a now former Deptford employee, I can say that the engineers do try there best with a limited budget. Also the Citaros were very thirsty and parts were very expensive. I was told Mercedes wanted £7,000 for an exhaust and £20,000 for an engine (that's when the second hand examples started dying and they were 07 plates). Realistically, the actual vehicle probably wasn't worth that much.
Also, when you have a yard full of buses the same age, they would tend to develop faults and failures around the same time whereas with some newer vehicles in the mix it may not be as noticeable.
Even so, second hand (my guess) is the way to go rather than buy new unless government grants are available (electric or alternative fuels). Fleet and depot standardisation should also help reduce costs.
(31 Mar 2023, 8:42 am)morritt89 Is this not just a case of preventative v reactive maintenance?
As a now former Deptford employee, I can say that the engineers do try there best with a limited budget. Also the Citaros were very thirsty and parts were very expensive. I was told Mercedes wanted £7,000 for an exhaust and £20,000 for an engine (that's when the second hand examples started dying and they were 07 plates). Realistically, the actual vehicle probably wasn't worth that much.
Also, when you have a yard full of buses the same age, they would tend to develop faults and failures around the same time whereas with some newer vehicles in the mix it may not be as noticeable.
Even so, second hand (my guess) is the way to go rather than buy new unless government grants are available (electric or alternative fuels). Fleet and depot standardisation should also help reduce costs.
(31 Mar 2023, 8:42 am)morritt89 Is this not just a case of preventative v reactive maintenance?
As a now former Deptford employee, I can say that the engineers do try there best with a limited budget. Also the Citaros were very thirsty and parts were very expensive. I was told Mercedes wanted £7,000 for an exhaust and £20,000 for an engine (that's when the second hand examples started dying and they were 07 plates). Realistically, the actual vehicle probably wasn't worth that much.
Also, when you have a yard full of buses the same age, they would tend to develop faults and failures around the same time whereas with some newer vehicles in the mix it may not be as noticeable.
Even so, second hand (my guess) is the way to go rather than buy new unless government grants are available (electric or alternative fuels). Fleet and depot standardisation should also help reduce costs.
(31 Mar 2023, 9:27 am)streetdeckfan £20k for a brand new engine? That doesn't seem too unreasonable imo!
When our Nissan was flood damaged a few years back a replacement engine was about £5k for a 2 litre diesel. Well, that's what the insurance was quoted at least
Sent from my SM-F721B using Tapatalk
(31 Mar 2023, 9:27 am)streetdeckfan £20k for a brand new engine? That doesn't seem too unreasonable imo!
When our Nissan was flood damaged a few years back a replacement engine was about £5k for a 2 litre diesel. Well, that's what the insurance was quoted at least
Sent from my SM-F721B using Tapatalk
(30 Mar 2023, 8:48 pm)Storx There's also noticeable trends that certain depots are worse than others; Riverside and Darlington (Arriva) in particular.Exact reason why a single uniformed X-Lines fleet of E400MMCs at Riverside with the X30/X31 being operated by Riverside would make sense covering the X10, X21, X30/X31. PVR of 16x with 4x spares and all having a day on the different services.
(30 Mar 2023, 8:48 pm)Storx There's also noticeable trends that certain depots are worse than others; Riverside and Darlington (Arriva) in particular.Exact reason why a single uniformed X-Lines fleet of E400MMCs at Riverside with the X30/X31 being operated by Riverside would make sense covering the X10, X21, X30/X31. PVR of 16x with 4x spares and all having a day on the different services.
(07 Apr 2023, 10:14 am)Unber43 Isn't that what they could do the school buses they've got?Would defeat the whole purpose as anything allocated to scholars will likely be near end of life.
(07 Apr 2023, 10:14 am)Unber43 Isn't that what they could do the school buses they've got?Would defeat the whole purpose as anything allocated to scholars will likely be near end of life.
