(05 Jul 2020, 12:22 pm)Michael wrote Good idea but would GNE want to buy 2nd hand to then convert to 1 door (if on main services)- due to the crisis, would it be worth it? - although only 7 years old, good shout.. how much does it cost to convert to one door and then get them up to GNE standard, including the USB ports etc?
Least then, 3 of them could go on the X5/X15 for X-Lines + 1 spare.


Not sure where the rest would end up though, if they decided to take all 13.


The 3 Solar's in service at Deptford, are those temporarily in service?

Probably around £20k to £25k to convert to single doorway and bring up to GoNE standard - as the Go Ahead Group often have buses available for internal transfer, I'm not sure why they would consider getting them externally.
Overall "on the road" cost likely to be at least the same as the book value of a similarly aged vehicle in the fleet - the advantage with new buses is that you get a 2/3/4/5 year warranty, whereas with 7 year old ex London bus you get a vehicle that has units approaching the end of their useful life (buses used to slow moving traffic in London don't always perform well in the fast paced provinces).