(21 Dec 2018, 9:37 am)L469 YVK wrote A thought here folks. Would GNE not be better off swapping the 7x Castles Express StreetDecks for 7x B9s from Deptford or Percy Main?While I agree about them being better suited to the faster sections as the Streetdecks sounds like they're about to explode!
I know the B9s will be 5 year old in January but they'd handle the X21 better than the StreetDecks. Although the Fab 56 or Cobalt Clipper would end up running a mixed fleet, this could be used as an advantage with the StreetDecks being allocated to some evening & Sunday boards on them services to save fuel as well as getting BSOG funding too.
The BSOG loss wouldn't be too big as the extra evening and Sunday mileage on the 56 or 309/310 would cover that and the B9 fuel economy would be the same on the X21 due to the B9s being suited better to faster sections of road.
But I don't think GNE would even consider it as it would be considerably downgrading the bus in terms of spec, unless they're going to do a complete refit. I honestly don't think I could live without the tables, that's the main reason I travel by bus instead of getting the car as I can get work done while travelling.