(21 Apr 2014, 12:27 pm)Marcus wrote I know this is more to do with National Express than directly with GNE, but does anyone know if the coaches have specific allocations, like the newest ones are put on the premiere and longer services? I really should know this, but as I rarely see the coaches out in service other than in the Newcastle area when I pay a visit to there (would you believe I once got stuck in a traffic jam down in the middle of the country, I think it may have been York, and I had 7101 behind me for twenty five minutes on it's way to Paignton). I know they get serviced on Chester's pits every few days because they make more mileage and need to be maintained every couple of days to make sure they're fit for service. Does it work anything like the those two Panthers do the shortest services to say Manchester or Liverpool and the rest of the Levantes do all the other services, or do they just throw them out on everything?
The 332 (Swindon), 530 (Paington) and 531 (Plymouth) normally seem to be allocated the tri-axle Scania/Levante, the 024/326/410/420/425/426/561 seem to be the Volvo B9R/Levantes while the 380/580 just get allocated anything. The summer additionally sees the 663 (Skegness) operate which also gets given anything. Just to point out, the 380 and 580 are one day rotas while 326/332/530/531 are 2 days, not sure regarding 024/410/420/425/426/561 workings.