(15 Oct 2018, 7:35 am)Dan wrote I don't think this necessarily suggests poor reliability - rather that they're under warranty and Volvo prefer to work on their own premises rather than a Go North East site, unlike Wrights and Optare, who more commonly carry out work on-site (so arguably less noticeable). Scania and ADL are often seen on-site at Stagecoach sites, so I'd say this is how they prefer to carry out their maintenance work.

The Volvo B5 Hybrids and Volvo B11RT coaches are also regularly parked at Volvo on Crowther Industrial Estate, again because they are under warranty.

Similarly when Wrightbus vehicles have issues on the engine side (Daimler/Mercedes), they are often sent to Bells near Benton, as that is the preference of their engineers.

While they are under warranty, you'd expect bus operators to get the issues fixed (regardless of however small they are) as soon as it is flagged up.

When the warranty expires, Go North East's own engineers carry out work during the night to reduce impact on operations. You don't tend to be that lucky when the work is outsourced (under warranty) as they have more than Go North East as a customer!

I have said this in the past but will say it again - if every operator reported every incident/breakdown as Go North East does with the X10, we would be suggesting that there isn't a single vehicle type in the country which can be deemed reliable.

That said, I do think the 5-litre engined Volvo is perhaps being strained a little too much up and down the A19 seven days a week, but I don't think there's a bus on the market that could cope with such a demanding route. The X9/X10 needs coaches for the work that it does, no doubt about that, but there isn't one on the market that could deliver what Go North East needs for this type of route. The coach would need to be low-floor and high capacity (peak time journeys need every single seat currently on the B5TLs), with a dedicated wheelchair bay.

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