(13 Aug 2013, 10:06 am)Daniel wrote http://northeastbuses.co.uk/gnefleetsearch.php?fleetno=®=&chassis=&bodywork=&depot=&livery=plum&year=
Five vehicles have been repainted into a plum base livery. The "Wear Tees Xpress" X7 PVR is three, and Deptford holds a branded spare also. Five vehicles wouldn't be repainted into this plum livery for the "Wear Tees Xpress", four would.

We've previously discussed relying on timetables for knowledge of branding and vehicle types being used on a specific service, and in my opinion, we really can't. From past experience, the timetables have not always been correct.

Although no official confirmation has been given by any of our Go North East representatives regarding these repainted Solars, I still do believe they are for "The Waggonway" 28/28A. I was reluctant to believe at first that they were for "The Waggonway", and I indeed thought that they would be for the X7, given that we have had confirmation that the X7 is in line for a vehicle upgrade to release B10BLEs to "Northern", allowing for further SPD withdrawal. When a fifth Solar was repainted, it became evident that they were not for the X7, and the rumours that arose regarding them being for the 28 seemed more likely.

I still think that the "Lambton Worm" brand will become defunct, and the service(s) under that brand will become "Northern". B10BLE usage here seems likely, if the service is to become "Northern".

We should have all noticed by now that B10BLEs within the fleet are not being used on branded services, and are indeed becoming the new SPDs. "The Centurion" is the exception to this, though I imagine this would have been a cheaper alternative to repainting the vehicles for them possibly to stay at Percy Main anyway. That said, I do believe, as the vehicles are Euro 4 as opposed to Euro 2 or 3, that they will be the last B10BLEs in the fleet to be branded.

We've also previously discussed the 39.

There are ten vehicles branded as "SimpliCity", with an additional Versa in the same batch now being branded as the centenary vehicle:
http://northeastbuses.co.uk/gnefleetsearch.php?fleetno=®=&chassis=&bodywork=&depot=&livery=simplicity&year=

Prior to 8319 being branded, I was reluctant to believe that 8319 would be branded as the centenary vehicle as she was required later in the year.

I propose that "SimpliCity" 42 retains five Versas (8325-29, as they are specifically branded for the 42 unless they have changed the additional vinyls regarding frequency now?), while 8320-24 are allocated to service 39. 8319 is the branded spare, providing it is put back into "SimpliCity" livery. With a PVR of 8 at present, the 39 is due an upgrade. I believe that the extra short weekday runs were only a temporary solution as something needed to be done, and Deptford had the SPDs that should be allocated to the service, spare. An increased seating capacity on the 39 would then allow these extra runs to be dropped and capacity issues wouldn't be so much of an issue as they previously were on the MPDs. Back to the original PVR of 5. Voila!
Going back to the point made above, this would demonstrate another inaccuracy with timetables, and shows that we cannot always believe them for the above factors mentioned.