(22 Mar 2022, 5:27 pm)Unber43 wrote They could easily switch if Newcastle allow it. But with the B9's interiors switched
I don't think 'easily' describes it. The PVR's don't match first of all, 7 Loops and 6 58's compared to 8 16's so you either have to swap 8 16's for 7 loops and a 58 or the whole lot. If you go for the first option that's 16 buses to repaint, the latter you're looking at 26. If you're doing the whole batch then there's the fact tables etc have been retrofitted to the X5/15 ones so do they need to be swapped, plus the interior branding, is it that simple or would it need to be completely redone. Seems like a lot of time, effort and money. Not saying GNE haven't done big swaps before but for the sake of a slight issue in reliability, GNE might be better upgrading 6177-6181 to Euro 6 and using them as spares at Consett or acquiring similar additional B9's for scholars/spare.