(25 Nov 2019, 5:42 pm)Rapidsnap wrote So whats the plan with 710-714, are they going to leave the fleet, reallocated elsewhere?

I know they are non-standard compared to the other Solos in having Cummins engines and longer wheelbase.

They're for disposal.

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(25 Nov 2019, 6:09 pm)Dan wrote They're for disposal.

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Glad they've done something about the Solos on the M routes, seems like a bad investment, they haven't been in the GNE fleet for long.

(25 Nov 2019, 3:23 pm)Rob44 wrote It must have been the comftable seats on the X4 that made it feel quicker!

Be careful, can't be talking about the luxuries of it yesteryear - people will accuse you of looking through rose tinted specs

But yeah, they were good! Very comfortable!

I notice the Optare MetroDecker has reappeared on the fleetlists, Martijn mentioned on his facebook last night that it was away for further modification.

I've mentioned previously that the 'Farewell Solar' event is like some sort of sick joke.
Now I find out there's a special beer for the event and it's available at the Central in Gateshead...

Might have to tag along after all! Can't be missing out on a nice beer in the nice bit of Gateshead.
Might just sacrifice the fawning over knackered Solars bit and head straight to the pub! 

https://twitter.com/MartijnGNE/status/11...62978?s=09

(25 Nov 2019, 9:14 pm)Rapidsnap wrote I notice the Optare MetroDecker has reappeared on the fleetlists, Martijn mentioned on his facebook last night that it was away for further modification.

It didn't ever disappear, did it?

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It was missing from the bus times fleetlist, and I'm sure it was removed from official fleetlists. Someone mentioned it had gone back with 9084. Kind of made sense at the time considering the Cobalt and Coast Geminis had all returned from refurbishment.

(25 Nov 2019, 5:42 pm)Rapidsnap wrote So whats the plan with 710-714, are they going to leave the fleet, reallocated elsewhere?

I know they are non-standard compared to the other Solos in having Cummins engines and longer wheelbase.

(25 Nov 2019, 6:09 pm)Dan wrote They're for disposal.

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Tragic! They were a bit rough for sure, but they handled much better than most of the newer Solos, and of course they were the fastest buses in the fleet.

(26 Nov 2019, 7:52 am)MrBoyt wrote Tragic! They were a bit rough for sure, but they handled much better than most of the newer Solos, and of course they were the fastest buses in the fleet.

And a total headache from an operations point of view. Most days there was an issue with at least one of them, and has been the case for a long time.

They were fast, but that's all they were.

What happened to 6336? It was out in service yesterday but apparently it couldn't operate due to an 'incident' with the bus
I presume that's just marketing crap for it broke down?

Could be anything...
Passenger taken ill
Driver Taken ill
Someone being sick or soiling themselves
Vandelism
An accident.

(26 Nov 2019, 11:41 am)Rapidsnap wrote Could be anything...
Passenger taken ill
Driver Taken ill
Someone being sick or soiling themselves
Vandelism
An accident.

I've had most of those things happen while I've been on the bus.

The best one was with some drunk youths (must have been 12 or 13) and one managed to be sick in 3 different places on the 45 then was adamant that he hadn't been. Or when a dog 'soiled themselves' on the X66 and the owners just got off and left it on the floor.

The most inconvenient one for me was when I was going to see a friend off who was leaving for 6 months and somebody 'decided' that would be the perfect time to get ill on the 10!

Oh dear how selfish of them to take ill and inconvinent you, some people cannot help it if they suddenly become ill.

(26 Nov 2019, 12:16 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I've had most of those things happen while I've been on the bus.

The best one was with some drunk youths (must have been 12 or 13) and one managed to be sick in 3 different places on the 45 then was adamant that he hadn't been. Or when a dog 'soiled themselves' on the X66 and the owners just got off and left it on the floor.

The most inconvenient one for me was when I was going to see a friend off who was leaving for 6 months and somebody 'decided' that would be the perfect time to get ill on the 10!

Fair enough, the 12-year-olds being drunk and the dog owners walking off after their pet had a shit on the bus is ridiculous; however, people don't randomly decide to chunder on the 10 for the sake of disrupting the service. Kind of have some respect there – they might have been on the way to work and their dickhead boss wouldn't let them have the shift off. You don't know.

When I was in college last year, I went on a trip to London and had to be at the campus for 9 but my bus was late because of all the students getting on and I nearly missed the coach from the college. You can't just complain for reasons like that.

Just saying. Nothing against you or anything and I didn't want to upset you.

(26 Nov 2019, 7:01 pm)BeachBoy99 wrote Fair enough, the 12-year-olds being drunk and the dog owners walking off after their pet had a shit on the bus is ridiculous; however, people don't randomly decide to chunder on the 10 for the sake of disrupting the service. Kind of have some respect there – they might have been on the way to work and their dickhead boss wouldn't let them have the shift off. You don't know.

When I was in college last year, I went on a trip to London and had to be at the campus for 9 but my bus was late because of all the students getting on and I nearly missed the coach from the college. You can't just complain for reasons like that.

Just saying. Nothing against you or anything and I didn't want to upset you.

I think I worded my comment wrong, it wasn't supposed to come across disrespectful, more sarcastic because I was slightly inconvenienced. Perhaps I should have used a /S at the end!

I don't know how many times I was late to college because the 49 was at capacity so had to wait until the next one and missed my connection.

And don't worry about upsetting/offending me, I really don't care what anybody says about me. As they say, offence can only be taken not given!

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(25 Nov 2019, 5:09 pm)streetdeckfan wrote That thing is absolutely hideous! 

Yup me & a friend said the same. I can completely appreciate what they did, its just I like clean modern designs, so I wasn't going to like this retro/heritage look. Just down to personal taste.

(25 Nov 2019, 12:53 pm)Michael wrote From GNE official fleet fleet:

Optare Solo M950/Optare 710 – 714 (WK59 CWU/CWW/CWX/CWY/CWZ) have been withdrawn from service at Riverside

Optare Versa V1110/Optare 8294, 8295, 8297, 8298 (NK09 FUP/FUT/FUV/FUW) have transferred to Riverside in lieu.

Are the Versa’s likely to be a permanent replacement for 710 - 714, or just temporary until other vehicles are sourced?

(26 Nov 2019, 8:42 pm)thetravelman wrote Are the Versa’s likely to be a permanent replacement for 710 - 714, or just temporary until other vehicles are sourced?

Based purely on comments on the forum in the past regarding the 'book value' and lifespan of a midi-bus, I'd not expect to see these 10 year old vehicles kicking around too long at all, never mind on these services.

I don't know if the decision to dispose of the Solo's is a lot earlier than planned, but either way - I think it will have an impact on how long these Versa's stay around for.
There's obviously quite a bit of stock coming up to the sort of age where we would expect them to start disappearing.
Im not sure that will be the case, unless we start to see further consolidation and a smaller fleet. 

The investment to replace the Solar's, these Solo's and the older Versa's vehicle for vehicle, will need to be quite significant.

Don't think sending buses up Lambton Avenue is doing the vehicle any favours like, the hill is nortoriously steep and more often or not vehicles have to stop part of the way up for either passengers or to let traffic in the opposite direction pass.

(26 Nov 2019, 7:32 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Yup me & a friend said the same. I can completely appreciate what they did, its just I like clean modern designs, so I wasn't going to like this retro/heritage look. Just down to personal taste.

Same here, which is why I like the design of the Streetdeck so much. more angles=more better for me!

Having said that, like I said further up, I think it's just the fact they stuck it on a Versa that it looks so bad. I did a quick and dirty Photoshop of what it may have looked like on a Solo and I personally think it looks half decent (the design at least, not my Photoshop skills!)

So the Newcastle bound 58s announce the next stop is New Bridge St where the bus terminates, but it actually stops on Market St East first?
So confusing for blind/partially sighted customers, and others if we’re being honest.

Has the Panther coach commenced service work yet on X9/X10

Any ideas on what board if so.?

(27 Nov 2019, 12:13 pm)ifm001 wrote Has the Panther coach commenced service work yet on X9/X10

Any ideas on what board if so.?

Monday it enters service from comments seen on Facebook


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6333 isn't sounding very healthy today, engine is a lot rougher than usual

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(27 Nov 2019, 2:00 pm)TEN 6083 wrote Monday it enters service from comments seen on Facebook

Bloody typical, I'm at work on Monday, then I'm at a Funeral at Tuesday then away down South from after that for the rest of the week.
The Panther was nowhere to be seen at Riverside depot. I was lucky with the BooBee bus as it was replaced by 3983 on the X9 due to late running. Just as well it returned NIS from Newcastle over the High Level to where I was parked.

(27 Nov 2019, 3:12 pm)streetdeckfan wrote 6333 isn't sounding very healthy today, engine is a lot rougher than usual

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Call me sceptical but I just don't see how the new batch are going to perform well particularly on some of the Hownsgill routes. 6333 will be starting to show it's true colours with it now being allocated to the X21 properly away from a more suitable start - stop type of route.

(27 Nov 2019, 8:54 pm)L469 YVK wrote Call me sceptical but I just don't see how the new batch are going to perform well particularly on some of the Hownsgill routes. 6333 will be starting to show it's true colours with it now being allocated to the X21 properly away from a more suitable start - stop type of route.

Guess we’ll find out soon enough, like them or hate them but 28 streetdecks have been ordered for Consett routes. Streetlites have handled the routes well enough for 4 years and if it wasn’t for the rattles they probably would get such a bad name from drivers (IMO).

(27 Nov 2019, 8:54 pm)L469 YVK wrote Call me sceptical but I just don't see how the new batch are going to perform well particularly on some of the Hownsgill routes. 6333 will be starting to show it's true colours with it now being allocated to the X21 properly away from a more suitable start - stop type of route.

As someone who spends far too much of their time on the Streetdecks, I have to disagree there. 6332 (which is from the same batch as 6333) has been allocated to the X21 pretty much exclusively since new and it always has been the best one on the route, from both a passenger's perspective and from what I've heard, a drivers perspective as well. 

They're far superior to the 16 plates we have on the X21 in basically every way, they're more reliable, more comfortable (both seat and suspension wise), quieter, and quite a bit better on the motorway.

Like I said a while back, one of the new drivers took a wrong turn in Bishop and ended up down Newton Cap Bank, and one of the newer Streetdecks (I think it may have been 6333) managed to do a hill start on there with no issue, so they certainly have some power

(27 Nov 2019, 9:01 pm)Stanleyone wrote Guess we’ll find out soon enough, like them or hate them but 28 streetdecks have been ordered for Consett routes. Streetlites have handled the routes well enough for 4 years and if it wasn’t for the rattles they probably would get such a bad name from drivers (IMO).

My only major complaint with the Streetlite is that god damn door! Other than that they're perfectly decent!
I still prefer the E200 over them, but honestly there's not that much in it between them, other than the rattling door. Then again the E200s have the creaking windows!

Without trying both out, I personally think the Streetdeck would be a better fit than the E400 for the Consett routes, the E400 is perfectly good, but the low height upstairs is enough for me to not like travelling on them

(27 Nov 2019, 9:21 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Without trying both out, I personally think the Streetdeck would be a better fit than the E400 for the Consett routes, the E400 is perfectly good, but the low height upstairs is enough for me to not like travelling on them

I imagine you'd probably have the same complaint about the low height Streetdeck.

(27 Nov 2019, 9:23 pm)S813 FVK wrote I imagine you'd probably have the same complaint about the low height Streetdeck.

I would, I have the same complaint with all low height vehicles! 

I actually quite like the E400 as a vehicle, the issue is that they would be running low height vehicles for no reason. If the E400 was available with head room I wouldn't be opposed to travelling on them

The other issue is even downstairs they feel quite claustrophobic, the seats are very close to the wall so my shoulder is rubbing against it when I sit properly on the seat, if I sit so I have proper shoulder room, I'm basically in the middle of the seats. That isn't an issue I have with the Streetdecks