(20 May 2015, 5:50 pm)Jimmi wrote 4812 has now lost its Mobitec screens.

(20 May 2015, 5:50 pm)Jimmi wrote 4812 has now lost its Mobitec screens.

(20 May 2015, 7:59 pm)Stewy wrote 4812/3 have the Hannover displays out of 2504/5 

(20 May 2015, 8:00 pm)Dan wrote May be wrong, but those don't (didn't) have LEDs all around, do (did) they?

I recall roller blinds on the side of at least one older Solo, I'm sure.

(20 May 2015, 8:21 pm)Jimmi wrote At least one of the two had roller destination equipment on the sides and maybe the rear - (not 100% on the rear) at least when they first arrived at Darlington.

I think both gained side and rear LEDs although I may be wrong on that.

(20 May 2015, 8:23 pm)citaro5284 wrote Looking at your pic of 4813, it does not look like it has a side destination now.......so do some people think that this vehicle is no longer DDA compliant??

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@N02/17594044669/in/dateposted/

(20 May 2015, 8:23 pm)citaro5284 wrote Looking at your pic of 4813, it does not look like it has a side destination now.......so do some people think that this vehicle is no longer DDA compliant??

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@N02/17594044669/in/dateposted/

(20 May 2015, 8:23 pm)citaro5284 wrote Looking at your pic of 4813, it does not look like it has a side destination now.......so do some people think that this vehicle is no longer DDA compliant??

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@N02/17594044669/in/dateposted/

(20 May 2015, 8:41 pm)Jimmi wrote Just checked all my photos of 4813 on Sunday, it definitely does have a side Hanover screen.

(20 May 2015, 8:21 pm)Jimmi wrote At least one of the two had roller destination equipment on the sides and maybe the rear - (not 100% on the rear) at least when they first arrived at Darlington.

I think both gained side and rear LEDs although I may be wrong on that.

(20 May 2015, 8:43 pm)Stewy wrote I think 2505 had them all around but I'm sure the last time i saw 2504 it had roller blinds, but don't forget 1302 is withdrawn so it could be the side displays of that or possibly 1798 

(20 May 2015, 8:58 pm)MrPottski wrote 2504 definitely has side rollers, plus there's plenty of Hanover kit going spare with the amount of withdrawals. I think it's a shame that so much has been spent on them to end up with faded second hand screens. 4813 is very dim indeed, especially when compared to the Mobitec equipment. What this week has shown though is the current format for the screens simply isn't good enough. The destination lettering is too small, the vias are too thin and therefore unreadable, and in bright sunlight, the older Hanover equipment is terrible to make out. I truly believe for town work all you need is max size one destination only, like what Arriva North West employ. The current format will always be a bug bear for me though.

(20 May 2015, 8:58 pm)MrPottski wrote 2504 definitely has side rollers, plus there's plenty of Hanover kit going spare with the amount of withdrawals. I think it's a shame that so much has been spent on them to end up with faded second hand screens. 4813 is very dim indeed, especially when compared to the Mobitec equipment. What this week has shown though is the current format for the screens simply isn't good enough. The destination lettering is too small, the vias are too thin and therefore unreadable, and in bright sunlight, the older Hanover equipment is terrible to make out. I truly believe for town work all you need is max size one destination only, like what Arriva North West employ. The current format will always be a bug bear for me though.

(20 May 2015, 8:58 pm)MrPottski wrote 2504 definitely has side rollers, plus there's plenty of Hanover kit going spare with the amount of withdrawals. I think it's a shame that so much has been spent on them to end up with faded second hand screens. 4813 is very dim indeed, especially when compared to the Mobitec equipment. What this week has shown though is the current format for the screens simply isn't good enough. The destination lettering is too small, the vias are too thin and therefore unreadable, and in bright sunlight, the older Hanover equipment is terrible to make out. I truly believe for town work all you need is max size one destination only, like what Arriva North West employ. The current format will always be a bug bear for me though.

(20 May 2015, 9:04 pm)Stewy wrote Couldn't agree with you more there Mr Pottski I prefered them when they scrolled, the ones in 4812 aren't even update properly, yesterday a driver and I both tried to find X21 Sunderland, and it wasn't on there, by mistake as I was looking for it, I had X2 Newcastle as I pressed the wrong button

(20 May 2015, 9:15 pm)Jimmi wrote I am not totally keen on the thin via points and I think it is really difficult to read, especially as the bus is approaching the stop from a distance which is the time you are most likely to be reading the via points. I like seeing the main destination and nothing else myself as I find it easier to tell which service it is if I can see the destination the bus is heading to.

Another thing I hate is on split services such as the 21/X21 on the 21 to Peterlee it says for Sunderland for a few seconds then starts saying via points so all of a sudden it changes to via Newton Aycliffe or something like that, it really winds me up and I think it is one of the reasons I don't think the X21 is as popular as it should be, that and lack of timetables available - there probably has been some on the 21/X21 EcoCity's this week because of the timetable changes but will probably not see any more until the next set of changes to these services.

One upside to losing the Mobitec screens though is we will hopefully see buses showing 'for Sunderland' instead of just 'Peterlee'

(20 May 2015, 9:19 pm)Jimmi wrote So basically we've ended up with a blind that can't even show the service it's branded for? Pathetic!

What exactly was displayed on the X21's then?

(20 May 2015, 9:09 pm)Kuyoyo wrote I don't understand unreadable - I can read it perfectly fine. And if the format wasn't good enough for management, do you really think they would be still using it over 2 years after the first depot was updated (23rd February 2013 was the date Stockton depot was updated)

(21 May 2015, 6:21 pm)Jimmi wrote TOWIE star James Argent will help launch the Sapphire 22/24 buses on Tuesday 26th May.

Durham Market Place from 10am.
Dalton Park 12pm.

(21 May 2015, 7:00 pm)Andreos1 wrote Is that the fella who vanished and turned up at Blackpool a few days later?

Who will give me odds on him disappearing and being found in a Crimdon Dene caravan next weekend?

(21 May 2015, 6:09 pm)tyresmoke wrote Ahead of the launches next week... I'll just confirm the breakdown of the Durham based Sapphire vehicles...

VDL Pulsar 1517 is generic Sapphire, while 1518-21 are branded for service 24
Streetlite 1595 is generic Sapphire, while 1596-1601 are branded for service 22
E400's 7538 and 7539 are also branded for service 24

(22 May 2015, 5:47 am)Dan wrote Meanwhile, the former Arriva North West VDL Pulsars have begun to arrive at Thorntons for repaint/refurbishment:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rpbsp/17947899441/

(22 May 2015, 3:31 pm)randomdude wrote Just got myself an Arriva Teen Card and I am aware that they are valid all day during school holidays but I am unsure about what dates arriva will classify as school holidays, as they vary by area. Anyone know?

(22 May 2015, 5:03 pm)MrPottski wrote Tell you what, the passengers on the 19 in Darlington must be laughing, going from rickety knackered MPD's to Pulsars and Sapphires. Except the ones that live in High Grange of course!