(29 Jul 2014, 8:13 pm)Crusader wrote Not sure if it has been mentioned yet...but the new timetable for the X21 seems to show the frequency is now every 15 minutes at peak times between Durham and newcastle!

Also the X46 shows connections to/from newcastle.

(29 Jul 2014, 5:57 pm)Marcus wrote I've been told many a time that the Angel makes is the most profitable overall, so that would be my top one as well. Here's just my top 10;

1. The Angel
2. Fab56
3. TEN
4. X66
5. Red Arrows
6. Citylink
7. Prince Bishops
8. Cobalt Clipper
9. Pronto
10. Diamond

my top 10 are:
1. Angel
2. Red Arrows
3. Crusader
4. Fab Fifty Six
5. Cobalt Clipper
6. South Tyne
7. Diamond
8. Fast Cats
9. Laser
10. Drifter

If GNE could get 10 Mercs together with a CCL or Moovbox retrofit and setup something similar to the old X31 / X32 but running between Bedlington Hartlands and Newcastle non stop, they could seriously give Arriva a good run for their money. The journey time saving from all X21 stops that two services would serve would be round about 10 minutes and with a 15 minute combined frequency between Ashington, Stakeford, Bedlington Stn / Red Lion / Hartlands then fast to Newcastle, it would give Arriva a good run for their money.

Bargain Bus X42/X43 was initially ran from Percy Main depot. On some occasions vehicles did stray. One did appear on the 302.

And I'm sure I've got a photo of one of the Olympians on the Longbenton DSS service.

Used to overuse the X42/X43 a lot. Then they put Prestiges on. I rarely used it after they done that.

[quote='AdamY' pid='55332' dateline='1406640750']

I'm going to stick to my guns and say that the Bargain Bus brand was started with services X42 and X43 before other services were added to the brand.

I am basing this on a quick image search which shows services X42 and X43 operating under the brand from 2007 whereas I can only find an image dating to 2009 for service 308.

I may be wrong though!
[/quote

X42/X43 were the first Bargain Bus initially operated from Percy Main; 308 was still operated from Percy Main at this point using Scania Omnicities this was the last part of joint operation with Arriva. The 309 began. X42/X43 were allocated to Ashington depot after Northumbria Coaches were taken over X44/X45 were added to the bargain bus brand using Volvo B10B this was the time 308 was transferred to Ashington and introduced on a direct competition basis with Arriva!

Back on my laptop again, so I'm now in a position to clear up a few things... It's a big one:

(28 Jul 2014, 4:52 pm)Kuyoyo wrote To answer your question Michael, the PVR goes up for 15 to 17 - meaning 2 extra vehicles required.

Now that timetables have been released for both services, we can clearly see that the PVR goes up from 15 to 16, meaning that just one extra vehicle is required.

(28 Jul 2014, 3:04 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote I think that they'll still have one spare. I know that there's a big gap between the first and second journey of the day towards Newcastle as the one that arrives at 07:24 has been withdrawn.

Correct - Percy Main will still have one spare Volvo B9TL equipped with Wi-Fi and power sockets.

(28 Jul 2014, 9:22 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Do you think that 6116 / 6117 will be kept red until spares are found or will they repaint them after coming back from Glasgow?

Whilst I am of the opinion that these vehicles should be repainted, one must also consider the cost of doing so. Additional resources are being pumped into service 309 - and not at the expense of any other services. Go North East may wait to see how well the revised frequency works before repainting (what would presumably be) Volvo B9TL 6116. Although one could argue that these service changes are coming at the detriment of customers given that other vehicles besides Volvo B9TLs are more likely to crop up with just one spare vehicle, I think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in this case, given that fares are not changing, and customers can benefit from a higher frequency to make their journeys with greater ease. I admit to being incredibly sceptical about this at first, but this was mainly while we were of the opinion that the PVR would increase by 2, and the Cobalt Clipper would have no allocated spare vehicle. Having just one spare vehicle will assist this operation, although not as efficiently as having two, of course!

(29 Jul 2014, 10:42 am)DaveyBowyer wrote But there's clearly demand for it though. Look at that complaint about the 308 leaving 15 minutes late a few month back and taking half an hour longer. The only reason the 309 wasn't being used more was because of the frequency between Blyth and Whitley Bay and for most journeys, the 309 only takes no more than five minutes more than the 308. They've made a good move and on that note due to many Gemini 2 PVR changes and new buses needed for the Promto, I think an order for the X1 is sort of likely next year.

We'll see how well the revised 309 service performs. I agree that Go North East could well be giving Arriva a run for their money here, and it'll be interesting to see if Arriva responds in any way by changing their timetables. It's not often we see bus operators pumping additional resources into services for the benefit of customers, but Go North East has done this quite a lot recently. (Fairly) recent examples including the Blaydon Racers PVR going up by 1 to assist reliability and time-keeping, the TEN PVR going up by 1 for the same reasons (which, so I'm told, has worked incredibly well, up to now), introducing a later journey on Fast Cats service X35 following passenger requests, and now the Cobalt Clipper PVR also going up by 1. This shows signs of a bus operator listening to customers, not making pointless service changes that do not consider them.

Next year's orders will be interesting. Considering the "shell life" of each vehicle, a total of 98 vehicles (when you exclude the three SPDs which have already been withdrawn) are due for disposal next year. All in all, I feel this goal is unachievable, but I'd imagine that GNE certainly will get the majority, if not all, of those Dennis Tridents withdrawn, in addition to the Volvo B10BLEs. As you can imagine, it's going to be pretty difficult to do this, given they're in a 'spare role', and a lot of those vehicles will work double-decker scholar services. It's far too early for the "Red Arrows" branded Volvo B9TLs to take this role, and we've just seven Volvo B7TLs on the Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork which should be taking a more backseat role in the coming years given their age. In addition to the aforementioned 98 vehicles, GNE should also make a start on withdrawing the Dennis MPD vehicles, though I can't help but feel that they will be withdrawn all in one go, in 2016...

(29 Jul 2014, 4:30 pm)randomdude wrote Bit of a random question but I have never travelled on a venture solo and was wondering if the next stop announcements work on them, particularly on the rural 689. Anyone know?

As far as I know, service 689 does not have Next Stop Announcements. They (now) work on every other "Venture" service.

(29 Jul 2014, 6:00 pm)Michael wrote Why should Deptford loose 1 of the spares though?

Precisely - they shouldn't, and I'd be willing to bet an arm and a leg that they won't. I've explained this one hundred and one times in the past, and this is the final time I'm doing so...

Go-Ahead is the parent company to a number of bus operators, one of which is Go North East. When Go North East orders vehicles, they must submit 'bids' to Go-Ahead, who actually purchase the vehicles. In these 'bids', Go North East must submit details of the routes which these new vehicles will be allocated to (details being how much profit is generated over x amount of time, for example). I'm sure other details, such as planned cascades (which obviously can and do change over time) can also be included - if it will benefit the bid. I'd imagine that the order for the Citylink would have been pushed a great deal by Go-Ahead, due to the higher running costs of the articulated vehicles previously allocated. Immediately, even prior to expected growth of the service, this means that more profit will be generated. Go North East must convince Go-Ahead that they are making a sensible decision, as it were. The "payback time" will be one factor which will also heavily influence Go-Ahead's decision-making. The time it takes for GNE to pay Go-Ahead back for 6084 - 6100 was calculated by the vehicles being allocated to service 56 - not services 309/310.

(29 Jul 2014, 8:13 pm)Crusader wrote Not sure if it has been mentioned yet...but the new timetable for the X21 seems to show the frequency is now every 15 minutes at peak times between Durham and newcastle!

(29 Jul 2014, 8:15 pm)nk55 wrote Also the X46 shows connections to/from newcastle.

As far as I know, these additional runs will be operated by Chester-le-Street depot, and I don't think these runs will be allocated branded vehicles. One could argue that, if the Pronto receives investment this year, the 'spare vehicles' could be based at Chester-le-Street for these peak time runs - that way, although a corporate liveried vehicle will turn up in place of a branded one, it would provide the same quality of service that a branded vehicle would.

It is also better to make service changes before planned investment rather than when or after new vehicles have entered service. For all of the services which received investment last year, no service changes took place at the same time as the vehicles entering service. This reduces customer confusion.

It must be noted that, as well as combating competition from Arriva North East on their X2 service, this will also relieve pressure on the Angel 21 service. Reducing passenger numbers along the route for the Angel means that it is more likely to keep to time, which of course, is better for the customers who live on the route of the Angel in places where the Pronto does not stop.

Linking in with an earlier quote in this post; this is another prime example of Go North East pumping additional resources into the network, and is a commendable move by the company.

(29 Jul 2014, 9:48 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote If GNE could get 10 Mercs together with a CCL or Moovbox retrofit and setup something similar to the old X31 / X32 but running between Bedlington Hartlands and Newcastle non stop, they could seriously give Arriva a good run for their money. The journey time saving from all X21 stops that two services would serve would be round about 10 minutes and with a 15 minute combined frequency between Ashington, Stakeford, Bedlington Stn / Red Lion / Hartlands then fast to Newcastle, it would give Arriva a good run for their money.

One step at a time.

Go North East is heavily concentrating on the Tyne Valley and the Durham Road corridor at the moment, with their Tynedalexpress and Angel/Pronto services.

These are the corridors whereby Go North East is at an advantage due to the fact they have so many local connections which branch off from the main 'hubs'.

Arriva expects passenger growth from services X21/X22, given that they have been converted to Sapphire specification. As there is no competition from other companies on the route of these services, it must come from new customers - the perks of Sapphire must bring people out of their cars and onto public transport.

Go North East would therefore be foolish to even attempt to set up a rival service against Arriva's services in this area, especially when Arriva has the advantage of offering local connections, when Go North East doesn't (with the only other service in the area being service 19). This does not mean to say that it will never happen (who could have predicted GNE would set up a competing service against Arriva's 685?), but there's a time whereby this would be appropriate - and that's not now, I feel.

The only way ANE could change the 308 is for Monday to Saturday daytimes, reduce the 306 to every 20 mins, do what GNE do with the Angel and paint 3 or 4 DB300's into Eco Green and increase the 308 to every 10 minutes Monday to Saturday daytime and every 20 minutes Sunday daytime.

The pics I posted of 3947 was taken on 08/11/2006, 3953 was taken on 25/09/2006. I have pics of 3948/56/60/61 taken the same year.
4809 was taken on 14/02/2009 also have a pic of 4863 on the 332 at Great Park taken on 17/02/2009 I have no pics of Bargain Bus DAF's earlier than 2009

Diamond Citaro knocking around Chester. Don't know if its on Limes or just down there for general stuff.

(30 Jul 2014, 2:11 pm)Robert wrote Diamond Citaro knocking around Chester. Don't know if its on Limes or just down there for general stuff.

Saw one on the pits earlier - could be there for a brake test?

Could have been taken off the Limes due to a mechanical fault? I've seen 4900 be taken off the 8 before and get replaced with 571!

It should be noted that the "Fast Cats" branded Scania L94UB/Wright Solars are starting to re-gain branding. I forgot to note this when I photographed 4975 a few days ago...
Go North East: 4975 / NK53UOB by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

4976 is the latest example to re-gain "Fast Cats" branding, and is at Saltmeadows today as such.


Dennis Trident 3801 is the latest in for corporate livery repaint too - the photo Adam M just uploaded to Flickr of the same vehicle reminded me! Similar 3873 is now back at Percy Main following repaint.

(30 Jul 2014, 8:14 am)Dan wrote Back on my laptop again, so I'm now in a position to clear up a few things... It's a big one:


Now that timetables have been released for both services, we can clearly see that the PVR goes up from 15 to 16, meaning that just one extra vehicle is required.


Correct - Percy Main will still have one spare Volvo B9TL equipped with Wi-Fi and power sockets.


Whilst I am of the opinion that these vehicles should be repainted, one must also consider the cost of doing so. Additional resources are being pumped into service 309 - and not at the expense of any other services. Go North East may wait to see how well the revised frequency works before repainting (what would presumably be) Volvo B9TL 6116. Although one could argue that these service changes are coming at the detriment of customers given that other vehicles besides Volvo B9TLs are more likely to crop up with just one spare vehicle, I think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in this case, given that fares are not changing, and customers can benefit from a higher frequency to make their journeys with greater ease. I admit to being incredibly sceptical about this at first, but this was mainly while we were of the opinion that the PVR would increase by 2, and the Cobalt Clipper would have no allocated spare vehicle. Having just one spare vehicle will assist this operation, although not as efficiently as having two, of course!


We'll see how well the revised 309 service performs. I agree that Go North East could well be giving Arriva a run for their money here, and it'll be interesting to see if Arriva responds in any way by changing their timetables. It's not often we see bus operators pumping additional resources into services for the benefit of customers, but Go North East has done this quite a lot recently. (Fairly) recent examples including the Blaydon Racers PVR going up by 1 to assist reliability and time-keeping, the TEN PVR going up by 1 for the same reasons (which, so I'm told, has worked incredibly well, up to now), introducing a later journey on Fast Cats service X35 following passenger requests, and now the Cobalt Clipper PVR also going up by 1. This shows signs of a bus operator listening to customers, not making pointless service changes that do not consider them.

Next year's orders will be interesting. Considering the "shell life" of each vehicle, a total of 98 vehicles (when you exclude the three SPDs which have already been withdrawn) are due for disposal next year. All in all, I feel this goal is unachievable, but I'd imagine that GNE certainly will get the majority, if not all, of those Dennis Tridents withdrawn, in addition to the Volvo B10BLEs. As you can imagine, it's going to be pretty difficult to do this, given they're in a 'spare role', and a lot of those vehicles will work double-decker scholar services. It's far too early for the "Red Arrows" branded Volvo B9TLs to take this role, and we've just seven Volvo B7TLs on the Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork which should be taking a more backseat role in the coming years given their age. In addition to the aforementioned 98 vehicles, GNE should also make a start on withdrawing the Dennis MPD vehicles, though I can't help but feel that they will be withdrawn all in one go, in 2016...


As far as I know, service 689 does not have Next Stop Announcements. They (now) work on every other "Venture" service.


Precisely - they shouldn't, and I'd be willing to bet an arm and a leg that they won't. I've explained this one hundred and one times in the past, and this is the final time I'm doing so...

Go-Ahead is the parent company to a number of bus operators, one of which is Go North East. When Go North East orders vehicles, they must submit 'bids' to Go-Ahead, who actually purchase the vehicles. In these 'bids', Go North East must submit details of the routes which these new vehicles will be allocated to (details being how much profit is generated over x amount of time, for example). I'm sure other details, such as planned cascades (which obviously can and do change over time) can also be included - if it will benefit the bid. I'd imagine that the order for the Citylink would have been pushed a great deal by Go-Ahead, due to the higher running costs of the articulated vehicles previously allocated. Immediately, even prior to expected growth of the service, this means that more profit will be generated. Go North East must convince Go-Ahead that they are making a sensible decision, as it were. The "payback time" will be one factor which will also heavily influence Go-Ahead's decision-making. The time it takes for GNE to pay Go-Ahead back for 6084 - 6100 was calculated by the vehicles being allocated to service 56 - not services 309/310.



As far as I know, these additional runs will be operated by Chester-le-Street depot, and I don't think these runs will be allocated branded vehicles. One could argue that, if the Pronto receives investment this year, the 'spare vehicles' could be based at Chester-le-Street for these peak time runs - that way, although a corporate liveried vehicle will turn up in place of a branded one, it would provide the same quality of service that a branded vehicle would.

It is also better to make service changes before planned investment rather than when or after new vehicles have entered service. For all of the services which received investment last year, no service changes took place at the same time as the vehicles entering service. This reduces customer confusion.

It must be noted that, as well as combating competition from Arriva North East on their X2 service, this will also relieve pressure on the Angel 21 service. Reducing passenger numbers along the route for the Angel means that it is more likely to keep to time, which of course, is better for the customers who live on the route of the Angel in places where the Pronto does not stop.

Linking in with an earlier quote in this post; this is another prime example of Go North East pumping additional resources into the network, and is a commendable move by the company.


One step at a time.

Go North East is heavily concentrating on the Tyne Valley and the Durham Road corridor at the moment, with their Tynedalexpress and Angel/Pronto services.

These are the corridors whereby Go North East is at an advantage due to the fact they have so many local connections which branch off from the main 'hubs'.

Arriva expects passenger growth from services X21/X22, given that they have been converted to Sapphire specification. As there is no competition from other companies on the route of these services, it must come from new customers - the perks of Sapphire must bring people out of their cars and onto public transport.

Go North East would therefore be foolish to even attempt to set up a rival service against Arriva's services in this area, especially when Arriva has the advantage of offering local connections, when Go North East doesn't (with the only other service in the area being service 19). This does not mean to say that it will never happen (who could have predicted GNE would set up a competing service against Arriva's 685?), but there's a time whereby this would be appropriate - and that's not now, I feel.

I'd say that it would work for the following:
1.) Powerful Mercedes buses that are proven and mostly reliable.

2.) Many conenctions around the North East.

3.) Buses to the Metrocentre from Eldon Sqaure.

4.) Reduced journey times particularly from Newbigggin and a happy medium of speed and reliability rather than waiting an hour for the X20.

5.) Radio control assisting in breakdowns and routing (non stop through Gosforth if A1 is closed or delayed bad).

6.) Local customer services based in Gateshead and not in Luton.

7.) Free Wi-Fi.

8.) High back seating.

9.) More frequent and faster than X21 and also X22 from Ashington and Bedlington.

10.) Combined frequency of every 15 mins (30 evenings and Sundays between Ashington, Stakeford, Bedlington Stn / Red Lion / Hartlands and Newcastle.

11.) New Cowgate junction further improving timings.

12.) Regular service in North Seaton including evejings and Sundays.

(30 Jul 2014, 8:14 am)Dan wrote Back on my laptop again, so I'm now in a position to clear up a few things... It's a big one:

Next year's orders will be interesting. Considering the "shell life" of each vehicle, a total of 98 vehicles (when you exclude the three SPDs which have already been withdrawn) are due for disposal next year. All in all, I feel this goal is unachievable, but I'd imagine that GNE certainly will get the majority, if not all, of those Dennis Tridents withdrawn, in addition to the Volvo B10BLEs. As you can imagine, it's going to be pretty difficult to do this, given they're in a 'spare role', and a lot of those vehicles will work double-decker scholar services. It's far too early for the "Red Arrows" branded Volvo B9TLs to take this role, and we've just seven Volvo B7TLs on the Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork which should be taking a more backseat role in the coming years given their age. In addition to the aforementioned 98 vehicles, GNE should also make a start on withdrawing the Dennis MPD vehicles, though I can't help but feel that they will be withdrawn all in one go, in 2016...

Bloody Hell, 98 Vehicles in Total to be Withdrawn, I think it will only be Achievable if Go North East were to Buy more Red Spares, rather than Buying New Vehicles for Branded Services as I mentioned on the "Fleet Order Prediction Thread" the other day, Furthermore depending on the Orders for this Year are, will depend on what Cascades/Repaints occur.

I personally think it would be a wise decision by Go North East to Buy at least 25% of This Years Orders as Red Spares, to then aid Withdrawal of Older Vehicles, without reducing the Number of Red/Northern Spares in the Process, and depending on where Vehicles are Allocated, some Services will see an Upgrade either way.

(30 Jul 2014, 8:14 am)Dan wrote (Fairly) recent examples including the PVR going up by 1 to assist reliability and time-keeping, the TEN PVR going up by 1 for the same reasons (which, so I'm told, has worked incredibly well, up to now),

Yes, Hexham regularly dispatches the 'spare' before the delayed incoming vehicle arrives, thus maintaining the schedule.

(30 Jul 2014, 3:54 pm)Dan wrote It should be noted that the "Fast Cats" branded Scania L94UB/Wright Solars are starting to re-gain branding. I forgot to note this when I photographed 4975 a few days ago...
Go North East: 4975 / NK53UOB by danielgrahamm, on Flickr

4976 is the latest example to re-gain "Fast Cats" branding, and is at Saltmeadows today as such.


Dennis Trident 3801 is the latest in for corporate livery repaint too - the photo Adam M just uploaded to Flickr of the same vehicle reminded me! Similar 3873 is now back at Percy Main following repaint.

4975 is also done caught it on X36 today while enroute back home photos are heading to flickr tonight stay tuned and watch this space

(30 Jul 2014, 4:27 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote Bloody Hell, 98 Vehicles in Total to be Withdrawn, I think it will only be Achievable if Go North East were to Buy more Red Spares, rather than Buying New Vehicles for Branded Services as I mentioned on the "Fleet Order Prediction Thread" the other day, Furthermore depending on the Orders for this Year are, will depend on what Cascades/Repaints occur.

I personally think it would be a wise decision by Go North East to Buy at least 25% of This Years Orders as Red Spares, to then aid Withdrawal of Older Vehicles, without reducing the Number of Red/Northern Spares in the Process, and depending on where Vehicles are Allocated, some Services will see an Upgrade either way.

I think these spares will come from new buses been purchased for other routes producing free buses to replace the older vehicles. It's also possible to think that if 80 vehicles are going to be purchased this year, then approximately 74 vehicles are going to get displaced meaning 74 of those 98 buses that need to be withdrawn will have replacements, providing some don't go off onto other services. That leaves just 22 buses that need to be withdrawn which can be replaced in next years investment.

In my opinion, I see this as been the most logical way of doing things and probably won't cost as much.

(30 Jul 2014, 4:35 pm)Racer_Experience wrote 4975 is also done caught it on X36 today while enroute back home photos are heading to flickr tonight stay tuned and watch this space

The photo in Dans post clearly shows that 4975 has been done...

(30 Jul 2014, 4:43 pm)Robert wrote The photo in Dans post clearly shows that 4975 has been done...

thought he said 4974 silly me

It's good that only one extra vehicle is required. What I would do however for the evenings (Sunday daytimes unchanged) is this:

- Terminate the evening 58's at the Civic Centre. All journeys would be timed to conenct with Cobalt Clipper service 310 in both directions. Through fares would be available.

- 309 would be increased to every 30 minutes during the evenings with a PVR of 4.

- 310 would also be increased to every 30 minutes during the evenings. However, evening buses would also serve Hadrian Park in place of the 58. The PVR would be 4 with a journey time of around 47 - 50 mins from North Shields to Newcastle.

And on that note, the PVR woild go down to 3 during the evenings.

(30 Jul 2014, 4:39 pm)Robert wrote I think these spares will come from new buses been purchased for other routes producing free buses to replace the older vehicles. It's also possible to think that if 80 vehicles are going to be purchased this year, then approximately 74 vehicles are going to get displaced meaning 74 of those 98 buses that need to be withdrawn will have replacements, providing some don't go off onto other services. That leaves just 22 buses that need to be withdrawn which can be replaced in next years investment.

In my opinion, I see this as been the most logical way of doing things and probably won't cost as much.

Let's say we went with my idea minus "East Durham", As said earlier he expects all the MPD's to be Withdrawn in 2016, So I had down (Pronto/X66/Lime and Toonlink) which has a Total PVR of 42, as the X66 would require double the PVR, To then provide the same amount seats Per Hour as the Artics do now.

This would mean 38 New Vehicles would be Red Spares, and would therefore directly replacing Older Vehicles in the Fleet, Without the Number of Spares being Reduced, As a Result of Vehicles being Withdrawn, They could be either Sold to other Operators or for Scrap, I think Go North East would prefer the first option, This would mean any Money made would be then Reinvested Towards the New Vehicles, Meaning Go North East would have saved Money in the Process.

Alternatively they could for example trade in Vehicles with Optare for example, like they did last year with the Citylink Artics, which then meant they got the Versas at a Discounted Price, again Saving them Money.

(30 Jul 2014, 4:39 pm)Robert wrote I think these spares will come from new buses been purchased for other routes producing free buses to replace the older vehicles. It's also possible to think that if 80 vehicles are going to be purchased this year, then approximately 74 vehicles are going to get displaced meaning 74 of those 98 buses that need to be withdrawn will have replacements, providing some don't go off onto other services. That leaves just 22 buses that need to be withdrawn which can be replaced in next years investment.

In my opinion, I see this as been the most logical way of doing things and probably won't cost as much.

Remember that there are other vehicles which are over-due withdrawal that this year's investment will contribute to. There are 28 vehicles which should have been withdrawn in 2013 that are still yet to be withdrawn. Also remember that this year's investment will contribute to the withdrawal of vehicles which were due to be withdrawn this year - a total of 23 vehicles. As we know, services such as the X66 are rumoured to be in-line for investment this year - this perhaps means that some of the vehicles due for withdrawal this year won't actually be withdrawn this year. I certainly can't see (all of) the dual-door Volvo B10BLEs being withdrawn this year.

Although I hate to say this, I personally don't see 80 vehicles being ordered this year. Why? When dropping hints on the forum, none of our GNE 'insiders' have actually suggested 80 vehicles will be ordered. They've suggested a few brand names, but none of these have ever added up to 80 vehicles. I know we got this figure from GNE's QCS response, but it's entirely possible that this could have changed, in further discussions with Nexus.

With all of this in mind, I am incredibly doubtful that work will begin on the withdrawal of vehicles which are due to come off next year (i.e. earlier than their "shell life") - when, as we know, GNE seems to be holding onto vehicles for a little longer than originally anticipated.

Go North East has acquired a Mercedes Citaro demonstrator, registered BP14FJZ. It is to be allocated to Riverside for its first week with Go North East, on service X66.

(31 Jul 2014, 10:57 am)Dan wrote Go North East has acquired a Mercedes Citaro demonstrator, registered BP14FJZ. It is to be allocated to Riverside for its first week with Go North East, on service X66.

Any more info about it?, is set out same as the ones on the 4, duel doored?

if its stopping with GNE more than 1 week, i would think it would move on to the Lime next after the X66?

If it's the same Citaro I think it is, I drove past it refueling at Washington services north bound this morning, if my memory serves me right it was a single door and a grey colour

(31 Jul 2014, 11:11 am)lukebateson wrote If it's the same Citaro I think it is, I drove past it refueling at Washington services north bound this morning, if my memory serves me right it was a single door and a grey colour

Correct.

So far as I can see, the seating layout is pretty much the same as the C4 Mercs.

Thanks, any idea when it will enter service?

(31 Jul 2014, 10:57 am)Dan wrote Go North East has acquired a Mercedes Citaro demonstrator, registered BP14FJZ. It is to be allocated to Riverside for its first week with Go North East, on service X66.

At least we can confirm that the X66 is going to be getting an upgrade this year.

(31 Jul 2014, 11:30 am)Robert wrote At least we can confirm that the X66 is going to be getting an upgrade this year.

A demonstrator vehicle doesn't always disctate whether or not a service receives investment!

That said, it's no secret that the X66 will receive investment this year...

(31 Jul 2014, 11:34 am)Dan wrote A demonstrator vehicle doesn't always disctate whether or not a service receives investment!

That said, it's no secret that the X66 will receive investment this year...

Or that that investment will indeed be Mercs for the X66.

The 58 had a Streetlite Max demo for a while but then ended up with Versas. Versas for the X66 have certainly been hinted at too.