(30 Jul 2014, 10:09 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Put it this way, this is what they'd get from GNE alone:
- 16 for the X1
- 24 for the TEN and TTX
- 18 for the Cobalt Clipper
- 17 for the Fab 56
- 20 for the Angel
- 9 for the Pronto
That alone is 104 vehicles. Then count in:
- Prince Bishops?
- Laser
- WTX?
- Toonlink
- Citylink if a single deck capacity da ja vu occurs (rather than rigid to artic)?
- Crusader?
(30 Jul 2014, 10:17 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Then count in ANE if they're willing to sacrafice fuel economy:
- 10 for Coast and Castles
- 15 for X21 / X22
- 12 for X10 / X11 (308)
- 6 for X93
Then count in EYMS, they like bit of power and so do Transdev for the Yorkshire Coastliner. Then count in First Eastern Counties (X1), Go Ahead South Coast and Brighton and Hove.
Those in bold - First have give up on Volvo, indeed the X1 is worked by E400s now (and they last ordered deckers for Volvo in 2012, and those are now used in Leeds (98) and Manchester (2) after the Olympics). Go-Ahead South Coast have never had B9TLs - indeed all 3 operations (Bluestar, Wilts & Dorset and Southern Vetics) took E400s last year. Arriva are ordering ADLs. Brighton and Hove might but at the end of the day, they just go with the flow (and given most of their work is city service, E400s will do fine).
The simple fact is, 3 operations won't justify the cost of either re-working the B5TL chassis for an 8-litre engine or comply designing a brand new one from scratch. You need to realise that it's very unlikely they will do so.