(14 Oct 2021, 10:07 pm)Dan wrote Given the time taken for the branding to be applied after the 5 September changes when these buses started being allocated to service 39, I don’t think it was a rushed job.

The buses are grey in colour and have been named Graphite to match the colour (like all the other services in Sunderland) - haven’t Apple just released their new iPhone 13 with the same colour description?

I am also confused as to why this change of vehicle type on service 39 renders it a ‘second class’ service now? The Solos are of an identical specification to the Streetlites previously used, and arguably provide a better customer experience (fewer rattles etc).

Concerns were raised on this forum regarding passenger loadings on the 39, but this does not seem to have actually been an issue that has materialised?

Elsewhere Streetlites have been replaced by Versas and Citaros of a near identical customer specification (Wi-Fi, USB, next stop announcements). Aside from the age of the vehicles, there isn’t really much of a downgrade on any of these services. I recently travelled on the 2 service and an elderly customer referred to the seats being far more comfortable on the recently refurbished Versa. Clearly this is just the perception of them being a different colour and in different material (moquette instead of leather) as they are the same type of Esteban seat.


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Oddly the graphite colours looked really smart without branding but have to agree with others that they look a bit meh branded up, not sure why other than the logo appears oddly close to the roadstripes so appears off centre (even though it is actually near enough centre of the bus).

I'd argue the main way in which the changes represent a downgrade is all (?) of the incoming vehicles are not only older but more polluting (the reason they are being moved to Sunderland in the first place) - much like when Sunderland swapped the E200 for MANviros ... they may look the same to most passengers but are not. Clearly Sunderland aren't getting the good end of the deal in receiving vehicles that are too dirty for another city, and in some cases were I think due for withdrawal from the fleet had Covid not hit.  Appreciate this is the somewhat inevitable flaw in the idiotic LEZ/CAZ/whatever it's called now - all it does is moves the pollution, and all the implications, elsewhere.