(11 Sep 2020, 9:06 pm)Adrian Have to say, the X1 Xlines brand looks extremely smart. Probably the best so far.

(12 Sep 2020, 9:11 am)L469 YVK So in a nutshell taking into account the upcoming changes to the Consett interworking patterns, what will the final PVRs & allocations be?

Also, depending on the financial & economic recovery moving forward, will the X1 StreetDecks remain for the long haul or will the X1 likely be "earmarked" for OM936 StreetDecks or E400MMCs should economic recovery & route performance allow one of the routes where B9TLs are deemed "overkill" to be replaced with StreetDecks?

(12 Sep 2020, 10:01 am)Dan Just to stop you needing to ask the question every other day, the StreetDecks on the X1 will remain on the X1. There's no reason to suggest that they will be incapable of running the route, and whilst they have a slower top speed on the Washington Highway (difference of 7mph against current Volvo B9), they are actually quicker off the mark than the existing Volvo B9, and will also likely do the uphill climb on the Washington Highway a bit better than the existing Volvo B9. There should be no need to replace them with more heavy-weight buses, nor any need to take Volvo B9s off the routes they're on at the moment. Initial feedback from driving team colleagues seems to be good.

It's very unlikely that bus operators up and down the country will be in a position to afford very many new buses at all. It will be a very long road to recovery once the government support package is revoked, and Go North East is certainly doing all it can now (given it has the opportunity to do so with all of the new buses coming in) to promote and market its services to get people back on board buses.

(12 Sep 2020, 11:59 am)L469 YVK I think I did only mention once prior (on a separate thread). Obviously given the current climate and the need for flexibility at Consett, it was a sensible move to swap the intended allocations around And to be fair, the E400MMC will actually be a better fit on the X70 & X71. Although the newer StreetDecks have been less troublesome to an extent compared to the 2016 batch, the X1 is a very rapid and high utilisation route. Obviously the X45/X46/X47 aren't exactly "easy" routes but in terms of the intensity, I wouldn't deem them to be as intense compared to the X1. The big question is are the StreetDecks on a route like the X1 going to stand the test of time (circa 7-8 years) relatively trouble-free? Fair play if they do. Perhaps the StreetDecks have gotten better & more reliable later down the production line as did the E400 & E400MMC.

(12 Sep 2020, 12:34 pm)Storx tbf the Cummin's engine isn't exactly the best engine around neither. Blyth wrecked their Enviros on the 308 and the Blyth Expresses hence when they got replaced off the X21/X22 and dumped on the local routes at Jesmond. Then some of the Gemini's have has their engines replaced and others struggle at times on minor hills which they shouldn't on such as Matthew Bank on the X7 and X8. The Blyth routes are a much closer comparison than the 21/X21 for the X1.

Not sure if there's been any big changes to the Cummins engine in the last 10 year but I believe they all use the same engine, maybe a slightly upgraded one on newer models.

(12 Sep 2020, 1:44 pm)streetdeckfan I'd genuinely like to know what everyone has against the StreetDecks.

Sure some of the 16 plates have had some issues, but the 67 plates have been super solid. 
6332 had ran on the X21 for basically it's whole life until it got moved to Consett, and rarely ever missed a beat. 

The StreetDecks are far better built than the E400s, even the 16 plates. 
The brand new E400s creak like there's no tomorrow when they go round corners or over the slightest bump, and whilst the issue with the windows rattling has been resolved, they still look like they're made of jelly.

Whilst subjective, I think the StreetDeck looks far nicer than the E400s, both inside and out. The high gloss plastics in the Enviros may look fancy when new, but they're already starting to look a right state.

I'll briefly mention the ceiling height upstairs as that's definitely something that puts me off the E400s, but that's down to the operator's spec not the vehicle itself.

In the interest of fairness, I will say I prefer the engine/transmission noise of the E400s, and until I experienced the brand new StreetDecks, I preferred the ride quality as well,

(12 Sep 2020, 2:37 pm)L469 YVK The StreetDeck is perfect for what it was built for. Basically to offer a fuel efficient lightweight double deck solution without the cost of mild hybrid / full electric technology. That covers routes such as the 21/56/309/310/311 and not forgetting Arriva's 308. The E400MMC on the other hand is now a "sweet spot". Not too heavy but capable enough for most work albeit on the "heavy side" for any type of work mentioned above.  

It was only given the recent events that GoNE had to streamline things thus swapping the intended allocations for both sets of new vehicles.

(11 Sep 2020, 9:06 pm)Adrian Have to say, the X1 Xlines brand looks extremely smart. Probably the best so far.

(12 Sep 2020, 2:50 pm)Metroline1511 What is also clever is how these express routes have X Lines branding with mainly gold but different colours just at the back for different corridors.

These new StreetDecks and Enviro 400s inevitably mean a more modern but more standardised double-deck fleet than in recent years.

(12 Sep 2020, 10:01 am)Dan Just to stop you needing to ask the question every other day, the StreetDecks on the X1 will remain on the X1. There's no reason to suggest that they will be incapable of running the route, and whilst they have a slower top speed on the Washington Highway (difference of 7mph against current Volvo B9), they are actually quicker off the mark than the existing Volvo B9, and will also likely do the uphill climb on the Washington Highway a bit better than the existing Volvo B9. There should be no need to replace them with more heavy-weight buses, nor any need to take Volvo B9s off the routes they're on at the moment. Initial feedback from driving team colleagues seems to be good.

It's very unlikely that bus operators up and down the country will be in a position to afford very many new buses at all. It will be a very long road to recovery once the government support package is revoked, and Go North East is certainly doing all it can now (given it has the opportunity to do so with all of the new buses coming in) to promote and market its services to get people back on board buses.

(12 Sep 2020, 2:44 pm)streetdeckfan I fully agree. But I do still believe the only reason they ordered the E400s for the X1 initially was due to the uncertainty at Wrightbus.

Had the Wrightbus vehicles arrived on time, and there been time to evaluate the 6 cylinder, I do think they would have went that way over the E400.

I also think that consolidating most of the E400s at Consett will be a better idea in the long run

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(12 Sep 2020, 5:37 pm)Andreos1 It will be interesting to see how the shortfall in top speed makes up for quicker acceleration and more power on the hills. Especially as the frequency has dropped. 

This could have been a chance to improve the X1 beyond a new livery and on-board spec.
Faster journeys would have been a good start.
A new livery and on board spec is only part of making things 'better than ever', but pretty pointless if it is taking people longer to get to/from work.

(12 Sep 2020, 5:49 pm)L469 YVK That's the whole point I was getting across earlier in response to Dan's post. As things stand now, none of us have a crystal ball and it's highly likely on the basis of now that the StreetDecks will see their 7-8 year stint out on the X1. But IF (and that's a big one) the economic outlook improves within the next 2-3 years (2022/23) to put GNE in a position to order new vehicles again, it wouldn't be a surprise if GNE decided to replace these for a "mid-weight" vehicle type with the StreetDecks being cascaded on a route where newer vehicles could be justified (not necessarily just the 56 or Cobalts).

If the StreetDecks get to year 3 and are reliable enough on the X1, it would make sense to keep them on the X1. But if the X1 proved to be too intense for these, then the option "could" be there but again referring to my previous mention about crystal balls.

GNE did that this year with the X9 & X10 replacing 3 year old Volvo B5TLs with coaches. Arriva also did the same back in 2003 on the 10's predecessor route replacing unreliable 3 year old Dennis Trident ALX400s with Volvo B10BLEs (also in response to declining passengers on the Ryton corridor).

(12 Sep 2020, 6:58 pm)Storx You keep forgetting that there's no-where for the Streetdecks to go, you can just go replacing the B9TL's which have at least 7 year left in them for the sake of it. There's literally about 100 single deckers and minibuses which more urgently need replacing especially the Mercedes and Omnicities (which can only be replaced by new vehicles on the 5/50) and are already nearly life expired. That's before we even start discussing the Euro Mods which they've had from their respective councils which will have terms behind them.

Also there's Streetdecks/B5TL's (they're similar) running on numerous Transdev routes such as the 36 and the Coaster routes which are a hell of a lot more harder work than the X1.

Just to add the coaches aren't new (2015 plates from Oxford) nor were the B10BLE's (ex. Arriva Scotland West). It wouldn't be a surprise to me if we don't see a new decker with GNE until at least 2025 imo bar ex London or elsewhere stock to see off the Omnidekkas in a similar way there wasn't any between 2005 and 2010 (deckers have a 15 year shelf life).