(22 Feb 2014, 3:25 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote What about Silver Arrows getting New Buses, because if this plan was to go exactly as planned, the Current Citaros on the 2A/2C would be 9 Years Old by the time this plan was Completed, And I don't see the Red Arrows getting New Buses any time soon either as there Vehicles are only 2/3 Years Old almost, plus they coping perfectly fine, But I do see the Logic behind that thought though, so it could potentially still happen.
And I can't see the East Durham Network surviving for another 2 and a Half Years with those MPD's, I would think that 2015 would be more realistic. Also I have noticed there would be 10 Nexus Solos to NTL in 2015 with 2 Spare, But then 2016 you have OK Way, which also has a PVR of 2, Might as well put the OK Way into the 2015 Cascades List.
The trouble is what you'd purchase for the Silver Arrows.
I've mentioned in the past what I was once told on the Open Line facility, and that was that they wanted to purchase double deckers for the Silver Arrows on a combined 15 minute frequency but it meant that the services had to be re-routed owing to a low bridge and the local councillors objected.
As such, they had to opt for the 10 minute combined frequency instead, and if memory serves, this is when they removed the X3 from the Red Arrows brand and repainted 5326/27 silver. They were still allocated to the X3 for a while despite this, and when the other Mercs received warranty repaint, Deptford allocated one of them to the 60 every single day. 5326/27 still retain Red Arrows interior branding to this day.
Regarding the choice of making the OK Way wait for the additional year - I was once told that the service was performing quite well and could often justify the midi vehicle as opposed to a smaller vehicle.