(06 Dec 2015, 10:04 pm)mb134 wrote A thought on this;

To me, the X18 is more suited to Sapphire than it is to MAX. It isn't exactly an express service, taking an hour longer than the X15 from Berwick to Alnwick, and 2 hours longer from Berwick to Newcastle. I also think NSA's and power sockets would be pretty useful on the route, especially for the long ones.

If the X20 continues to do well, throw 7529-32 on that, 5 new Sapphire E400 MMCs for the X18, and have 7533 as an additional MAX spare? 7412-15 could then be dispersed across the region as MAX spares.

I would suggest converting the X10/11 to MAX, however I can't begin to imagine how bad that would be with the way Blyth allocate. (Thinking about the no-quibble guarantee).