(08 Sep 2017, 7:51 am)RBZ 5459 wrote No problem. If 34194 is still in use it's normally found on the 32 cycles, can be found anywhere else really as Slatyford's route are all Dart-friendly, it was on the X88 on Wednesday. There's still a handful of Darts still in a reserve role, but once they move to regional disposal they are then up for grabs for other regions to take a punt at. It is listed as a disposal vehicle now, so could go anytime really if any Stagecoach division wants it. This has been the case for the likes of 34562/65/67/79 and 35157/58/90/91/92/93 which are now part of the Cumbria & North Lancashire fleet, having moved there over the past three months or so. 35193 landed at Kendal yesterday, having been repainted into Lakes green livery: see here
It's all about fleet statistics these days, so cutting the elderly vehicles cuts depot costs i.e. fuel and general upkeep, plus makes the fleet age look good on paper! Go North East (and Arriva too) have had a history of generally refurbishing vehicles to keep them ticking over, unlike Stagecoach who like to shift vehicles around the group. Sadly Stagecoach has taken a while to get on the technology band-wagon, but we're now seeing Wi-Fi and USB power plugs fitted as standard to all new Stagecoach vehicles which is a good thing!
Thought it would be 32/32A for a Dart. I thought the 32/32A would be operated by Walkergate though, because it runs to Walker and terminates at Byker, I think. I have never seen a Dart on the X88 before. Usually the Newcastle express services use everything else: Kinetics, MANs, E200s, E300s, and new electric on Sundays, single and double. I thought all the Darts would be scrapped actually, rather then disposed of to another region.
Makes sense what you say about fleet statistics cutting the elderly vehicles cuts depot costs and makes the fleet age look good on paper.
Arriva and GNE have very old vehicles. Stagecoach has a newer fleet by far in many places. Why did Stagecoach take so long to introduce features like Wi-Fi and USB?
I seriously thought Wi-Fi was onboard one or two Stagecoach buses and they had no interest in upgrading their buses. Certainly a good thing new Stagecoach vehicles have Wi-Fi and USB as standard, I agree. Disappointing they are not interested in Next stop announcements.