I think we'll be able to look forward to a number of demonstration vehicles over the course of the next few months leading up to the final decision of which vehicles are to be ordered. This will strongly influence the decision as to which vehicles will be purchased.
The depot blueprints for Riverside will no doubt allow for the building of eco-friendly infrastructure, and it would be wise to take such an opportunity to invest in eco-friendly buses this way.
We must remember that Go North East have a good relationship with both Volvo and Wrights, and remember the manufacturers where relationships are rumoured to have soured as a result of previous incidents.
Despite this - if a demonstration vehicle serves its purpose, proves to be suitable for the route which it has been allocated to, and is generally speaking quite cheap to run, then new partnerships can be formed.
RE: 2014 GNE Bus Order Predictions