(25 Nov 2013, 11:20 pm)Ely1992 wrote On another note, when the deckers arrive for the Cobalt Clipper, are the mercs moving to a different service or staying part of the brand, or are there just enough Deckers arriving to replace the Omnicities.
There are 17 Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini destined for Percy Main - 15 of these will be branded, whilst 2 will join the 'spare role' family, and will be repainted red.
Omnicitys 5255-60 will be repainted into a light blue base livery, where they will later be transferred to Chester-le-Street for use on "Whey Aye Five 0" service 50. These repaints have already begun, and the latest repaint information can be viewed on our "NEB News" page here.
The remaining Omnicitys from Cobalt Clipper (5250, 5253/54 and 5273) are to head to Stanley and will be repainted red to be put into the company's generic livery. Go North East have confirmed on multiple occasions that the X30/X31 is to receive 'newer vehicles' by the end of this year (in reality, mid-January), so we can second guess that they will be for use on services X30/X31. As I said above, I imagine the final vehicle will be a Renown, with 3886-9 seeing use on X70/X71.
The Citaros are heading to Crook and will all see use on "Pronto" service X21. This allows the Presidents to transfer to Stanley, withdrawing further Olympians.
Regarding the use of Citaros on the X30/X31, let's see how the services cope with this upgrade. Y'never know, they may be able to justify Merc use next year - would fit in lovely with Stanley receiving some Mercs for the Lime (which has been strongly hinted at by our GNE reps in the past), thereby standardising Stanley depot!
(25 Nov 2013, 11:28 pm)Nicholas Perry wrote did I read on a post they are planning changes again to the 9, x3, x36. I cant seem to find anything about this. does anyone know what is planned and when these changes could come into service
Indeed you did - I scanned and shared a copy of the consultation last month when it was first stocked on buses:
http://northeastbuses.co.uk/forum/showth...hp?tid=491&pid=16464#pid16464
Assuming the consultation feedback in positive, these changes are likely to be implemented in January, and if this is so, we should see the registration on VOSA next month.