(08 Feb 2023, 6:24 pm)Storx wrote Aye I believe it used to be mixed until quite recently with the 2 Streetlite's forming the allocation and the Centro's before that, believe it was ALX400's doing the other boards. Not sure how they came to that mind as it's like polar opposite in standards but then again it's Arriva.

Ashington seem to be struggling today, quite a few dropped boards; noticed the Commander is back on the road aswell which is unusual, it's never really been affected by the driver shortages.

A couple of boards can deal with single decker allocation, but there are quite a few trips per day which need deckers. There's usually a couple in the morning which are hammered with schools, then the first couple after 9am heading to Morpeth are quite busy. Most trips alight and board quite a few at Ashington Bus Station too, throughout the day. Outside of the peaks it doesn't really need deckers, but then again do many routes? 

They've been hampered quite a bit recently with drivers on the sick I believe, but I've heard that they have quite a few drivers currently in training as well as some full licence holders starting/coming back imminently. The Commander was never withdrawn or anything, was just waiting for parts. It's covering 7530/1 for refurb at the moment.