Arriva North East: New buses 2022
Arriva North East: New buses 2022
(20 Mar 2022, 7:05 pm)JoshP Is there anything new on the cards to replace the Solos for town work in Darlo/Stockton/Whitby etc? Been on a few solos the last week and they're showing their age, some are 14 years old
(20 Mar 2022, 7:05 pm)JoshP Is there anything new on the cards to replace the Solos for town work in Darlo/Stockton/Whitby etc? Been on a few solos the last week and they're showing their age, some are 14 years old
(20 Mar 2022, 7:09 pm)Jimmi Don't think there's anything replacing those at Darlington any time soon, they seem pretty happy to keep using them on all manner of routes morning, noon and night. Some are better than others although they seem pretty tired now, would say they're fine for Town work although ideally would stop doing stuff like 8/8A & the X66 on evenings.
Stockton haven't had Solo's for a while now (excluding loans when Yarm Fair has been on)
(20 Mar 2022, 7:09 pm)Jimmi Don't think there's anything replacing those at Darlington any time soon, they seem pretty happy to keep using them on all manner of routes morning, noon and night. Some are better than others although they seem pretty tired now, would say they're fine for Town work although ideally would stop doing stuff like 8/8A & the X66 on evenings.
Stockton haven't had Solo's for a while now (excluding loans when Yarm Fair has been on)
Apparently there will be 19 new buses arriving at Ashington in July plus a few refurbished ones to replace the Solos. Should give them one of the most modern fleets in the whole of Arriva outside of London.
(26 Mar 2022, 11:06 am)Driver9*** Apparently there will be 19 new buses arriving at Ashington in July plus a few refurbished ones to replace the Solos. Should give them one of the most modern fleets in the whole of Arriva outside of London.So all E400MMCs to Ashington as there was 19x in the order? That covers all of the X14/X15/X18/X20 + 3x for the X21/X22.
(26 Mar 2022, 11:06 am)Driver9*** Apparently there will be 19 new buses arriving at Ashington in July plus a few refurbished ones to replace the Solos. Should give them one of the most modern fleets in the whole of Arriva outside of London.So all E400MMCs to Ashington as there was 19x in the order? That covers all of the X14/X15/X18/X20 + 3x for the X21/X22.
(26 Mar 2022, 11:11 am)L469 YVK So all E400MMCs to Ashington as there was 19x in the order? That covers all of the X14/X15/X18/X20 + 3x for the X21/X22.
Then that frees 14x 14/64/15 plate classic E400. 11x for the 43/44/45 (as well as 7522 already at Jesmond) then 3x spare staying at Ashington.
Where will the 12x E200MMC be going?
(26 Mar 2022, 11:11 am)L469 YVK So all E400MMCs to Ashington as there was 19x in the order? That covers all of the X14/X15/X18/X20 + 3x for the X21/X22.
Then that frees 14x 14/64/15 plate classic E400. 11x for the 43/44/45 (as well as 7522 already at Jesmond) then 3x spare staying at Ashington.
Where will the 12x E200MMC be going?
(26 Mar 2022, 7:30 pm)peter Given the need for spares and summer increases I imagine the X14 is more likely to be worked by classic E400 and presumably some older examples will be retained for the 35 replacing 7411/45/46/84/86. At the very least Jesmond need three deckers to replace 7412/15/91, which leaves 11 left over. Belmont still has 5 Gemini's which will presumably be replaced. Perhaps the remaining six will be used to replace single decks that can in turn replace excess Solo's. The 12 E200's are rumoured for Jesmond (new Newcastle depot) for the Solo operated services.
(26 Mar 2022, 7:30 pm)peter Given the need for spares and summer increases I imagine the X14 is more likely to be worked by classic E400 and presumably some older examples will be retained for the 35 replacing 7411/45/46/84/86. At the very least Jesmond need three deckers to replace 7412/15/91, which leaves 11 left over. Belmont still has 5 Gemini's which will presumably be replaced. Perhaps the remaining six will be used to replace single decks that can in turn replace excess Solo's. The 12 E200's are rumoured for Jesmond (new Newcastle depot) for the Solo operated services.
(26 Mar 2022, 7:51 pm)Storx It's rumoured that all the B7TL's are being withdrawn. There's more than enough buses around if Durham didn't have numerous buses off the road. Remember there's the ex Liverpool Pulsars at Jesmond which could be used to replace the 3 Deckers there aswell which haven't turned up yet which I'm not sure what route they're planned for but some boards on the 43/44/45 seems most sensible.
(26 Mar 2022, 7:51 pm)Storx It's rumoured that all the B7TL's are being withdrawn. There's more than enough buses around if Durham didn't have numerous buses off the road. Remember there's the ex Liverpool Pulsars at Jesmond which could be used to replace the 3 Deckers there aswell which haven't turned up yet which I'm not sure what route they're planned for but some boards on the 43/44/45 seems most sensible.
(26 Mar 2022, 8:05 pm)peter I'm just not convinced they'll pull it off withdrawing all the Belmont ALX400's haha. I know there's some more Liverpool pulsars to come, can't help think it would be better to use them to replace Solo's cause we've got far too many in the region, then get some more ex-London vehicles to Durham for the X46/48I do wonder if some of the decker output at Belmont could be downsized to single deckers (most likely Pulsar's) although the 48/X46 is a weird one as for much of the day you could manage with single deckers but it gets very busy at peak times especially with schools/college loadings. Think the only scholars now at Belmont (excluding East Durham College services) is the 865 from Croxdale to St John's School in Bishop which is one decker that just does that run on the morning & afternoon, the lunchtime ED2 and afternoon 6 to Barnard Castle.
(26 Mar 2022, 8:05 pm)peter I'm just not convinced they'll pull it off withdrawing all the Belmont ALX400's haha. I know there's some more Liverpool pulsars to come, can't help think it would be better to use them to replace Solo's cause we've got far too many in the region, then get some more ex-London vehicles to Durham for the X46/48I do wonder if some of the decker output at Belmont could be downsized to single deckers (most likely Pulsar's) although the 48/X46 is a weird one as for much of the day you could manage with single deckers but it gets very busy at peak times especially with schools/college loadings. Think the only scholars now at Belmont (excluding East Durham College services) is the 865 from Croxdale to St John's School in Bishop which is one decker that just does that run on the morning & afternoon, the lunchtime ED2 and afternoon 6 to Barnard Castle.
(26 Mar 2022, 8:24 pm)Jimmi I do wonder if some of the decker output at Belmont could be downsized to single deckers (most likely Pulsar's) although the 48/X46 is a weird one as for much of the day you could manage with single deckers but it gets very busy at peak times especially with schools/college loadings. Think the only scholars now at Belmont (excluding East Durham College services) is the 865 from Croxdale to St John's School in Bishop which is one decker that just does that run on the morning & afternoon, the lunchtime ED2 and afternoon 6 to Barnard Castle.If they are Euro 6, GNE should pick like 5-10 of them up.
24 of the ex London VDL DB300's have been advertised for sale through some Bus Sales dealer
(26 Mar 2022, 8:24 pm)Jimmi I do wonder if some of the decker output at Belmont could be downsized to single deckers (most likely Pulsar's) although the 48/X46 is a weird one as for much of the day you could manage with single deckers but it gets very busy at peak times especially with schools/college loadings. Think the only scholars now at Belmont (excluding East Durham College services) is the 865 from Croxdale to St John's School in Bishop which is one decker that just does that run on the morning & afternoon, the lunchtime ED2 and afternoon 6 to Barnard Castle.If they are Euro 6, GNE should pick like 5-10 of them up.
24 of the ex London VDL DB300's have been advertised for sale through some Bus Sales dealer
(26 Mar 2022, 7:30 pm)peter Given the need for spares and summer increases I imagine the X14 is more likely to be worked by classic E400 and presumably some older examples will be retained for the 35 replacing 7411/45/46/84/86. At the very least Jesmond need three deckers to replace 7412/15/91, which leaves 11 left over. Belmont still has 5 Gemini's which will presumably be replaced. Perhaps the remaining six will be used to replace single decks that can in turn replace excess Solo's. The 12 E200's are rumoured for Jesmond (new Newcastle depot) for the Solo operated services.Working it out, there'd still be 3x 14/64/15 reg classic E400 spare if 12x were allocated to the 43/44/45. Obviously the quieter X14 boards in the summer could be worked by something else.
(26 Mar 2022, 8:38 pm)Unber43 If they are Euro 6, GNE should pick like 5-10 of them up.Why would GNE want or need DB300's?
For Deptford, Consett. And maybe some for Washington
(26 Mar 2022, 7:30 pm)peter Given the need for spares and summer increases I imagine the X14 is more likely to be worked by classic E400 and presumably some older examples will be retained for the 35 replacing 7411/45/46/84/86. At the very least Jesmond need three deckers to replace 7412/15/91, which leaves 11 left over. Belmont still has 5 Gemini's which will presumably be replaced. Perhaps the remaining six will be used to replace single decks that can in turn replace excess Solo's. The 12 E200's are rumoured for Jesmond (new Newcastle depot) for the Solo operated services.Working it out, there'd still be 3x 14/64/15 reg classic E400 spare if 12x were allocated to the 43/44/45. Obviously the quieter X14 boards in the summer could be worked by something else.
(26 Mar 2022, 8:38 pm)Unber43 If they are Euro 6, GNE should pick like 5-10 of them up.Why would GNE want or need DB300's?
For Deptford, Consett. And maybe some for Washington
(26 Mar 2022, 8:05 pm)peter I'm just not convinced they'll pull it off withdrawing all the Belmont ALX400's haha. I know there's some more Liverpool pulsars to come, can't help think it would be better to use them to replace Solo's cause we've got far too many in the region, then get some more ex-London vehicles to Durham for the X46/48
(26 Mar 2022, 9:06 pm)L469 YVK Working it out, there'd still be 3x 14/64/15 reg classic E400 spare if 12x were allocated to the 43/44/45. Obviously the quieter X14 boards in the summer could be worked by something else.
If 7514-17 & 7510 (non standard) aren't leaving Northumbria, they'd make good use on the 35.
Ideally, some more investment next year to replace 7401-06 and with a Euro 6 conversion, they could provide a hell of a lot of flexibility between Ashington, Redcar and Whitby for spares & PVR increases.
If Blyth (that's depending on orders) presumably stuck with WrightBus like the DB300s and ended up with OM934 StreetDecks, would make sense to tag 6x OM936 StreetDecks on top of that order for the X93/X94
(26 Mar 2022, 8:05 pm)peter I'm just not convinced they'll pull it off withdrawing all the Belmont ALX400's haha. I know there's some more Liverpool pulsars to come, can't help think it would be better to use them to replace Solo's cause we've got far too many in the region, then get some more ex-London vehicles to Durham for the X46/48
(26 Mar 2022, 9:06 pm)L469 YVK Working it out, there'd still be 3x 14/64/15 reg classic E400 spare if 12x were allocated to the 43/44/45. Obviously the quieter X14 boards in the summer could be worked by something else.
If 7514-17 & 7510 (non standard) aren't leaving Northumbria, they'd make good use on the 35.
Ideally, some more investment next year to replace 7401-06 and with a Euro 6 conversion, they could provide a hell of a lot of flexibility between Ashington, Redcar and Whitby for spares & PVR increases.
If Blyth (that's depending on orders) presumably stuck with WrightBus like the DB300s and ended up with OM934 StreetDecks, would make sense to tag 6x OM936 StreetDecks on top of that order for the X93/X94
(26 Mar 2022, 10:00 pm)Storx Is there actually many Solo's which are officially in use now? It's very hard to tell what's going on with Durham lately as there's about 15 vehicles off the road currently. I'm assuming it must be extremely low though especially when the 86 goes (on paper at least). Jesmond's are on borrowed time with the Enviro 200 MMC's. That just leaves Darlington and Whitby which are a bit more difficult as the routes are all running around estates where full size singles would be useless. They do need to go though, wonder what the refurbished Ashington stock is though and maybe more might be coming to see off more down in Darlington.Loss of the 86 only really saves one bus from the current 56/86 cycle and should be interesting to see what happens as the 6, 7 & 64 are going back up in frequency from the same (although still not pre lockdown levels on the 6 & 64)
Unless there's Pulsars moving out of Jesmond then there's 15 Pulsars for the 306/685. Some of them will be going on the 43/44/45 and it makes sense there's no need for Deckers there. 7501 - 7509 only ended up there to shut up Gosforth and were too knackered to do anything else imo. Not to mention the 4 58 plates and the 1 14 plate aswell. Can't see them getting 12 Deckers like.
One noticeable thing is though if these changes are getting setup for the new depot changes in the future then the Pulsars need to leave Blyth as there isn't space for them if the 52/53/54 and it's Streetlite's are moving to Blyth.
(26 Mar 2022, 10:00 pm)Storx Is there actually many Solo's which are officially in use now? It's very hard to tell what's going on with Durham lately as there's about 15 vehicles off the road currently. I'm assuming it must be extremely low though especially when the 86 goes (on paper at least). Jesmond's are on borrowed time with the Enviro 200 MMC's. That just leaves Darlington and Whitby which are a bit more difficult as the routes are all running around estates where full size singles would be useless. They do need to go though, wonder what the refurbished Ashington stock is though and maybe more might be coming to see off more down in Darlington.Loss of the 86 only really saves one bus from the current 56/86 cycle and should be interesting to see what happens as the 6, 7 & 64 are going back up in frequency from the same (although still not pre lockdown levels on the 6 & 64)
Unless there's Pulsars moving out of Jesmond then there's 15 Pulsars for the 306/685. Some of them will be going on the 43/44/45 and it makes sense there's no need for Deckers there. 7501 - 7509 only ended up there to shut up Gosforth and were too knackered to do anything else imo. Not to mention the 4 58 plates and the 1 14 plate aswell. Can't see them getting 12 Deckers like.
One noticeable thing is though if these changes are getting setup for the new depot changes in the future then the Pulsars need to leave Blyth as there isn't space for them if the 52/53/54 and it's Streetlite's are moving to Blyth.
(26 Mar 2022, 10:00 pm)Storx Is there actually many Solo's which are officially in use now? It's very hard to tell what's going on with Durham lately as there's about 15 vehicles off the road currently. I'm assuming it must be extremely low though especially when the 86 goes (on paper at least). Jesmond's are on borrowed time with the Enviro 200 MMC's. That just leaves Darlington and Whitby which are a bit more difficult as the routes are all running around estates where full size singles would be useless. They do need to go though, wonder what the refurbished Ashington stock is though and maybe more might be coming to see off more down in Darlington.
Unless there's Pulsars moving out of Jesmond then there's 15 Pulsars for the 306/685. Some of them will be going on the 43/44/45 and it makes sense there's no need for Deckers there. 7501 - 7509 only ended up there to shut up Gosforth and were too knackered to do anything else imo. Not to mention the 4 58 plates and the 1 14 plate aswell. Can't see them getting 12 Deckers like.
One noticeable thing is though if these changes are getting setup for the new depot changes in the future then the Pulsars need to leave Blyth as there isn't space for them if the 52/53/54 and it's Streetlite's are moving to Blyth.
(26 Mar 2022, 10:00 pm)Storx Is there actually many Solo's which are officially in use now? It's very hard to tell what's going on with Durham lately as there's about 15 vehicles off the road currently. I'm assuming it must be extremely low though especially when the 86 goes (on paper at least). Jesmond's are on borrowed time with the Enviro 200 MMC's. That just leaves Darlington and Whitby which are a bit more difficult as the routes are all running around estates where full size singles would be useless. They do need to go though, wonder what the refurbished Ashington stock is though and maybe more might be coming to see off more down in Darlington.
Unless there's Pulsars moving out of Jesmond then there's 15 Pulsars for the 306/685. Some of them will be going on the 43/44/45 and it makes sense there's no need for Deckers there. 7501 - 7509 only ended up there to shut up Gosforth and were too knackered to do anything else imo. Not to mention the 4 58 plates and the 1 14 plate aswell. Can't see them getting 12 Deckers like.
One noticeable thing is though if these changes are getting setup for the new depot changes in the future then the Pulsars need to leave Blyth as there isn't space for them if the 52/53/54 and it's Streetlite's are moving to Blyth.
(26 Mar 2022, 10:22 pm)Jimmi Loss of the 86 only really saves one bus from the current 56/86 cycle and should be interesting to see what happens as the 6, 7 & 64 are going back up in frequency from the same (although still not pre lockdown levels on the 6 & 64)
(26 Mar 2022, 10:48 pm)peter Durham still have 7 Solo's, I'd argue they shouldn't have any tbh, unless passenger numbers are lower on the 49/49A/57/57A these days. The thing with Jesmond is they have more than 12 Solo's, as some are allocated to the 52/53/54, but like you say the depot re-jig should see an end to that. The ones at Whitby are sound just running around on the 95. Darlington have withdrawn all the Omnicities because there were PVR decreases on the town services which are solo operated. So now you have Solo's running around on the X26/27/66/67/75/76, so they could deffo do with more Pulsars.
I reckon, Blyth will do the X7/X8/X9/X10/X11/308 with the 31 DB300's, then 12 E400's operating either the 43 or 306 not sure if that would leave enough spare for that PVR. Then ofc the Streetlites for the 52/53/54. I reckon the new Walkergate depot could be just single decks, doing the E200 operated services, the 43 (could go Ashington alternatively) or 306, 44/45 and 685.
(26 Mar 2022, 10:22 pm)Jimmi Loss of the 86 only really saves one bus from the current 56/86 cycle and should be interesting to see what happens as the 6, 7 & 64 are going back up in frequency from the same (although still not pre lockdown levels on the 6 & 64)
(26 Mar 2022, 10:48 pm)peter Durham still have 7 Solo's, I'd argue they shouldn't have any tbh, unless passenger numbers are lower on the 49/49A/57/57A these days. The thing with Jesmond is they have more than 12 Solo's, as some are allocated to the 52/53/54, but like you say the depot re-jig should see an end to that. The ones at Whitby are sound just running around on the 95. Darlington have withdrawn all the Omnicities because there were PVR decreases on the town services which are solo operated. So now you have Solo's running around on the X26/27/66/67/75/76, so they could deffo do with more Pulsars.
I reckon, Blyth will do the X7/X8/X9/X10/X11/308 with the 31 DB300's, then 12 E400's operating either the 43 or 306 not sure if that would leave enough spare for that PVR. Then ofc the Streetlites for the 52/53/54. I reckon the new Walkergate depot could be just single decks, doing the E200 operated services, the 43 (could go Ashington alternatively) or 306, 44/45 and 685.
(26 Mar 2022, 10:48 pm)peter Durham still have 7 Solo's, I'd argue they shouldn't have any tbh, unless passenger numbers are lower on the 49/49A/57/57A these days. The thing with Jesmond is they have more than 12 Solo's, as some are allocated to the 52/53/54, but like you say the depot re-jig should see an end to that. The ones at Whitby are sound just running around on the 95. Darlington have withdrawn all the Omnicities because there were PVR decreases on the town services which are solo operated. So now you have Solo's running around on the X26/27/66/67/75/76, so they could deffo do with more Pulsars.Saw a Solo on the X66 yesterday PM approaching Boro and it was rammed.
I reckon, Blyth will do the X7/X8/X9/X10/X11/308 with the 31 DB300's, then 12 E400's operating either the 43 or 306 not sure if that would leave enough spare for that PVR. Then ofc the Streetlites for the 52/53/54. I reckon the new Walkergate depot could be just single decks, doing the E200 operated services, the 43 (could go Ashington alternatively) or 306, 44/45 and 685.
(26 Mar 2022, 10:48 pm)peter Durham still have 7 Solo's, I'd argue they shouldn't have any tbh, unless passenger numbers are lower on the 49/49A/57/57A these days. The thing with Jesmond is they have more than 12 Solo's, as some are allocated to the 52/53/54, but like you say the depot re-jig should see an end to that. The ones at Whitby are sound just running around on the 95. Darlington have withdrawn all the Omnicities because there were PVR decreases on the town services which are solo operated. So now you have Solo's running around on the X26/27/66/67/75/76, so they could deffo do with more Pulsars.Saw a Solo on the X66 yesterday PM approaching Boro and it was rammed.
I reckon, Blyth will do the X7/X8/X9/X10/X11/308 with the 31 DB300's, then 12 E400's operating either the 43 or 306 not sure if that would leave enough spare for that PVR. Then ofc the Streetlites for the 52/53/54. I reckon the new Walkergate depot could be just single decks, doing the E200 operated services, the 43 (could go Ashington alternatively) or 306, 44/45 and 685.
(27 Mar 2022, 8:50 am)Storx Thanks for that, thought it was 2 but didn't realise it interworked with 56. Makes sense though. Definitely though especially with all the vehicles off the road.
Isn't there 14 Enviro 200 MMC's which I'm assuming are going to be MPD length (8.5m I think) to replace the Solo's there coming. I do agree with the rest of it though mind pretty much, but the X7-X11 will need more buses than that as there is currently Pulsars on daily, believe roughly 3 boards on the X7/X8/X9.
Personally though my random guess is:
Ashington:
1/2 - 8x Pulsar
35 - 2x Pulsar (1493 / 1501) / 2x Enviro 400 MMC
X20 - 2x Enviro 400 MMC / 2x Pulsar (1408 / 1411)
X21/X22 - Enviro 400 MMC
X14 - Pulsar (1502 - 1505) - Interworking with something??
X15 - Enviro 400 MMC
X18 - 6x Enviro 400 MMC
57/57A - Unknown
Blyth:
X7/X8/X9 - 14x Gemini
X10/X11 - ??? (7529 - 7533, 7553 - 7556 maybe?)
306/308 - 17x Gemini
52/53/54 - Streetlites
Jesmond:
43/44/45 - 6x Enviro 400 (7522 / 7524 - 7528) / 8x Pulsar (1500 / 1537 - 1543)
47 - Pulsar
685 - Pulsar (Sapphires)
Minibuses - Enviro 200 MMC
Other Depots:
X93/X94 Spares - 7557 / 7558 - 7560 / 7562
X46 - 7514 - 7517 / 7519 - 7521
B7TL Spare replacement - 7501 - 7509 / 7511 - 7512 (Spread between Blyth, Jesmond and Durham - maybe some at Ashington aswell).
I'm expecting to be very wrong
(27 Mar 2022, 8:50 am)Storx Thanks for that, thought it was 2 but didn't realise it interworked with 56. Makes sense though. Definitely though especially with all the vehicles off the road.
Isn't there 14 Enviro 200 MMC's which I'm assuming are going to be MPD length (8.5m I think) to replace the Solo's there coming. I do agree with the rest of it though mind pretty much, but the X7-X11 will need more buses than that as there is currently Pulsars on daily, believe roughly 3 boards on the X7/X8/X9.
Personally though my random guess is:
Ashington:
1/2 - 8x Pulsar
35 - 2x Pulsar (1493 / 1501) / 2x Enviro 400 MMC
X20 - 2x Enviro 400 MMC / 2x Pulsar (1408 / 1411)
X21/X22 - Enviro 400 MMC
X14 - Pulsar (1502 - 1505) - Interworking with something??
X15 - Enviro 400 MMC
X18 - 6x Enviro 400 MMC
57/57A - Unknown
Blyth:
X7/X8/X9 - 14x Gemini
X10/X11 - ??? (7529 - 7533, 7553 - 7556 maybe?)
306/308 - 17x Gemini
52/53/54 - Streetlites
Jesmond:
43/44/45 - 6x Enviro 400 (7522 / 7524 - 7528) / 8x Pulsar (1500 / 1537 - 1543)
47 - Pulsar
685 - Pulsar (Sapphires)
Minibuses - Enviro 200 MMC
Other Depots:
X93/X94 Spares - 7557 / 7558 - 7560 / 7562
X46 - 7514 - 7517 / 7519 - 7521
B7TL Spare replacement - 7501 - 7509 / 7511 - 7512 (Spread between Blyth, Jesmond and Durham - maybe some at Ashington aswell).
I'm expecting to be very wrong
(26 Mar 2022, 8:05 pm)peter I'm just not convinced they'll pull it off withdrawing all the Belmont ALX400's haha. I know there's some more Liverpool pulsars to come, can't help think it would be better to use them to replace Solo's cause we've got far too many in the region, then get some more ex-London vehicles to Durham for the X46/48
Redcar could do with some extra veachles as there seem to be struggling at the moment and using optare solos on the X4 isn't the most suitable size for that' run
(26 Mar 2022, 8:05 pm)peter I'm just not convinced they'll pull it off withdrawing all the Belmont ALX400's haha. I know there's some more Liverpool pulsars to come, can't help think it would be better to use them to replace Solo's cause we've got far too many in the region, then get some more ex-London vehicles to Durham for the X46/48
Redcar could do with some extra veachles as there seem to be struggling at the moment and using optare solos on the X4 isn't the most suitable size for that' run
