(14 Oct 2014, 7:38 am)Drifter60 wrote Are these the short X35 Doxford-Sunderland that the B7's allocated to? Didn't they used to be operated by MPDs? Do these require deckers. 

I'm positive I replied to this post earlier today, but it mustn't have come through...

Yes - the give away for that in my previous post was the mention of light running to Doxford Park to pick up an X35!   

I can't recall the evening short X35s ever being operated by MPDs. As I said before, prior to September 2014, one was operated by a "SimpliCity" branded Optare Versa and the other was operated by a "Northern" branded Volvo B7TL (the same bus which had been allocated to services X3/835/265). Before that, both were operated by DAF SB120s - working off service 38 (and service 61 at one point too, when the lettered variation of service 38 was around and they were interworking with service 61!)

These runs won't require double deckers, but it allows for a smaller amount of light running (ie from Seaham to Doxford Park) compared to running all the way back to the depot light.