(05 Sep 2017, 5:07 pm)Dan wrote I'm not too sure how or why the Fab56 and Cobalt Clipper are being brought into this? My "theory" relates to the Angel 21 - not those routes..?

The allocation of Volvo B7TLs and OmniDekkas on the 21 relates only to the fact that no spare vehicles to the same specification were ordered for the 21. If, or rather when, new vehicles are ordered for the 21, I would expect that two spares would be ordered to support the 17 branded examples.

The Fab56 and Cobalt Clipper routes probably didn't need a bus as powerful as the Volvo B9TL, but at the time, this was the standard double-deck vehicle for Go North East (with orders previously including the Red Arrows, Tyne Tees Xpress and TEN, which all benefited from a 'meatier' bus). Go North East could have opted for a full-diesel Volvo B9TL for the Angel too, but decided instead to go for the more environmentally-friendly option with better fuel efficiency and a less powerful engine, on the basis that they were being allocated to a route which quite frankly doesn't need a 9-litre engine.

Plus - at the time - there wasn't such a big focus on low-carbon emission buses. There is now, and a bus being LCEB-certified (and the benefits that come with this, such as extra BSOG) is one of the biggest things which makes the business case stack up for new vehicles.