(20 Apr 2022, 11:02 pm)Unber43 wrote I have seen 20's, X20's Busier than the Xlines X72/31/30/70/71 reguarly, I think they only got new buses due to the Euro 6. 

At the time before covid, the intention (and it did pretty much happen) was to upgrade the Derwentside 'X' routes and for the upgrade to coincide with the new depot as well as developments in Consett Town Centre.

I do have a question about the initial order though and it is probably just a speculative one. Given that the Cobalt & Coast B9TLs received a substantial refurbishment almost like last minute, was the original decker order of 34x vehicles (I know 3x were ADL) not originally earmarked for the 309/310 & 56 with B9TLs then being cascaded as they were still fairly 'new' then?

If you look at 34x vehicles and the PVRs back at the start of the 2018/19 financial year:
- 309/310 - 16x + 2x spares
- 56 - 14x + 2x spares

That would've used up all 34x vehicles exactly with spares thrown in. And I know they would've been targets for losing B9TLs due to the 'stop-start' nature of the routes and previous unsuccessful GKN modification attempts to reduce fuel costs.