(20 Aug 2019, 7:36 pm)Boggle wrote

I agree 6332 is the best bus presently on the route. Some of the 16 plate Streetdecks feel like they’re about to rattle themselves to bits when tackling a hill, particularly the one from the roundabout at Gateshead up to Durham Road.

New buses will certainly boost the route in that perspective and hopefully more follow in due course.

From my experience travelling on them, the problem on the hills seems to be the fact that they're not kicking down, so they struggle in a higher gear (if you say a 4 speed has a 'high' gear!)

My only worry is because MG seems to hate full leather seats, we'll end up with part leather/part fabric seats on the 2 new Streetdecks, the two-tone Red/Blue leather with extra foam on 6332/6333 and the standard blue leather on the CE Streetdecks.

I personally despise fabric seats, if only because of how much gets absorbed into them (and I don't even want to think what gets absorbed!), whereas leather is wipe clean, which is very handy with all the 'youth' that get on the X21 and seem to get everything dirty.

And, in case I haven't mentioned it enough, I hope they're adding bins to the CE Streetdecks, because they're always covered in litter