(08 Feb 2015, 6:21 pm)Dan wrote I don't think Go North East really saw it as a downgrade; after all, the vehicles allocated now are actually newer than the Mercedes Citaros previously allocated (even the older examples: 8306 - 8309).
Whilst I do agree that Mercedes Citaros are far superior in terms of ride quality, moving the Versas away from their role on service 61 and onto the new 2/2A will help cover the cost of them quicker, while the older Mercedes Citaros (whose costs should be more or less covered by now - after six and a half years on the 2A/2C) can move into a more backseat role.
I personally think that the old 2A/2C routes are helping prop up the 42 route. On evenings and Sundays, service 42 is hardly the best performer, and you regularly see empty buses. On the other hand, the old 2A/2C services yield much higher loadings in comparison.
Maybe newer, but if you were offered a brand new Ford Fiesta over a 1-3 year old BMW 5 series, you'd take the 5 series every day of the week. The Citaro, in my opinion, is far superior to any other vehicle in any of the big three's fleets. Passenger comfort and ride quality, rather than the technical side!
I agree that the 2/2A is propping the 42 up, and it'd be interesting to see if it's causing reliability issues. I don't use it enough these days to properly comment, but my personal experience so far is that the reliability seems to have become worse. Had two 2As appear in the space of 5 minutes last week, and the two I've used this weekend have been 5 minutes, and 8 minutes late respectively. Not great loads on them either.