This means they must be destined for one route! I hope it's the 4!!

They are for 13A/B as said many times in the past.

They are for 13A/B as said many times in the past.

For which they should get branded in due course

I'm curious... Are all darlington routes slowly going to get next stop announcements. There's the sapphires ( I know they're seperate) there's MAX X1. The 1/1B/5/5A now the 13A/B. I heard maybe the X66 is too. I hope all services get next stop announcements

I'm curious... Are all darlington routes slowly going to get next stop announcements. There's the sapphires ( I know they're seperate) there's MAX X1. The 1/1B/5/5A now the 13A/B. I heard maybe the X66 is too. I hope all services get next stop announcements

The Omnicitys have screens for the next stop announcements on the X66, although I'm not sure if the X26/X27 have them although if they haven't they probably will get them as it looks like all Darlington buses are going to get them from what I've seen.

This means they must be destined for one route! I hope it's the 4!!

Will probably be for the 8 then if they have next stop announcements in them unless they are planning all routes to have next stop announcements 


That would work out if there's 10 of them 13s have a PVR of 7, and the 8s have a PVR of 3 then there's your 10

1304/10/12/14 could be used on town work which then eventually gets rid of the MPDs

The cascades planned over the next few weeks are as follows.....

Redcar B9TL's
7401-7406 new for MAX X93
7485/7486/7489/7493/7494 to Jesmond > displace 7467/7471/7473/7474/7476 to Durham (Gemini refurb covers)
4512 to Stockton > 4039 disposal

E200's continue to arrive at Durham with 1324/1325/1326/1328 into fleet, replacing 1304/1310/1312/1314 to Darlington, which allows 2503 to disposal & 1302/1306/1307 to reserve (non DDA Darts). 1415/1416 back from refurb see's off 1303 to reserve.

Solos 2852-2861 arriving into Darlington...
2803/2804/2805/2807/2808/2826/2829 to Stockton > 1753 disposal, 1769/1771/1772 to Blyth (1758/95/96 disposal), 1902/1903/1904 disposal
1760/1767/1791 to Blyth (1733/42/50 disposal)

Ashington should lose 1616/1646 and 7458 following return of buses from refurbishments... this should have already happened

Only other thing noted is the transfer of 7435 to Yorkshire Tiger

This should put disposal buses at
1003
1611 1616 1617 1626 1636 1637 1639 1646 1647 1649 1651 1653 1654 1655 1656
1712 1724 1736 1737 1738 1739 1743 1753 1756
1902 1903 1904
2503
4001 4007 4038 4039
7458 7459 7461 7462 7464

Will probably be for the 8 then if they have next stop announcements in them unless they are planning all routes to have next stop announcements 





That would work out if there's 10 of them 13s have a PVR of 7, and the 8s have a PVR of 3 then there's your 10



1304/10/12/14 could be used on town work which then eventually gets rid of the MPDs

I think they may be a bit small for the 8 as they only have 28 seats so it may be a squeeze down North Road especially at peak times. The rest of the route could probably get away with a Solo though.

I think most of Darlington's buses will end with announcements as the council / Do the Localmotion seem to want them. Not sure how it would work on Dales and District and Scarlet Band though.

I think they may be a bit small for the 8 as they only have 28 seats so it may be a squeeze down North Road especially at peak times. The rest of the route could probably get away with a Solo though.

I think most of Darlington's buses will end with announcements as the council / Do the Localmotion seem to want them. Not sure how it would work on Dales and District and Scarlet Band though.

The peak times down north road shouldn't matter there's these buses that go past Morrison and the top of north road :

Service 7 at 37 mins past the hours and 52 mins past the hour 
Service 5A at half past, and the 5 on the hour 
Service 14A at 34 mins past the hour and 04 mins past the hour, yeah I know it goes up Westmoreland street but it still gets to the top of north road 

Oh nearly forgot X66 that's goes at 20 past , 20 to and on the hour

All passengers that use these buses normally get off at Morrison's anyway, so there's still another 7 buses that go up north road 15 mins either side of the 8, or even better, keep a Mpd and bring a Morrison's to town bus in, then there won't be as many people on the 8 or any other service that use north road 

2852 is also now in service on the 13A/13B.

Service 6 branded Pulsar appears to have broken down right in the middle of the road at Cabin Gate in Bishop Auckland causing havoc.

Service 6 branded Pulsar appears to have broken down right in the middle of the road at Cabin Gate in Bishop Auckland causing havoc.

It's actually been in an incident and I see a badly dented car in front.

Jesmond's Nexus Solo X20 run is to end on 22nd March.

Routes X20/20 and 685 added to Max upgrade list for this year.

The cascades planned over the next few weeks are as follows.....

Redcar B9TL's
7401-7406 new for MAX X93
7485/7486/7489/7493/7494 to Jesmond > displace 7467/7471/7473/7474/7476 to Durham (Gemini refurb covers)
4512 to Stockton > 4039 disposal

E200's continue to arrive at Durham with 1324/1325/1326/1328 into fleet, replacing 1304/1310/1312/1314 to Darlington, which allows 2503 to disposal & 1302/1306/1307 to reserve (non DDA Darts). 1415/1416 back from refurb see's off 1303 to reserve.

Solos 2852-2861 arriving into Darlington...
2803/2804/2805/2807/2808/2826/2829 to Stockton > 1753 disposal, 1769/1771/1772 to Blyth (1758/95/96 disposal), 1902/1903/1904 disposal
1760/1767/1791 to Blyth (1733/42/50 disposal)

Ashington should lose 1616/1646 and 7458 following return of buses from refurbishments... this should have already happened

Only other thing noted is the transfer of 7435 to Yorkshire Tiger

This should put disposal buses at
1003
1611 1616 1617 1626 1636 1637 1639 1646 1647 1649 1651 1653 1654 1655 1656
1712 1724 1736 1737 1738 1739 1743 1753 1756
1902 1903 1904
2503
4001 4007 4038 4039
7458 7459 7461 7462 7464

Much appreciated the update.

Curious that 1724 has appeared as for disposal with nothing (apparently) coming into Darlington to allow for its release. (10 solos in, 7 Solos out to Stockton and 3 MPD's out to Blyth)

Any word on how long 1711,1747,1793 and 1794 will carry on for?

It's actually been in an incident and I see a badly dented car in front.

It was 1477 and has damage to the front end.

I asked a few drivers in town about the next stop announcement system in the 09 Reg Solo's... They didn't know they were there and have no clue what they're for. Also according to two drivers the Solo's aren't exclusively for use on the 13A/B

Ex Durham Park and Ride Solos in service at Darlington today.

2852 on the 13A/13B
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@...264165629/

2860 on the 4.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@...827932044/

Ex Durham Park and Ride Solos in service at Darlington today.

2852 on the 13A/13B
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@...264165629/

2860 on the 4.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127079988@...827932044/

Well that application of the Arriva livery is miles better than the ADL Enviro200s at Durham. Missing the black fleet name on the side 'swoop' and the fleet numbers on the front are on the nearside opposed to offside, but I'm sure I'll live...  

Well that application of the Arriva livery is miles better than the ADL Enviro200s at Durham. Missing the black fleet name on the side 'swoop' and the fleet numbers on the front are on the nearside opposed to offside, but I'm sure I'll live...  

A fair few buses have had the fleet number placed on the nearside recently including Darlington's MAX Omnicity's which annoys me as when your looking out the window and see a bus come in the opposite direction you can't see the fleet number.

At least these two don't have the large ghastly Arriva logo on the front.

I asked a few drivers in town about the next stop announcement system in the 09 Reg Solo's... They didn't know they were there and have no clue what they're for. Also according to two drivers the Solo's aren't exclusively for use on the 1

They have had the next stop displays since they entered service on the Park and Rides - A feature which has been lost since been lost since the Scarlet Band takeover.  However, these displaces were not accompanied by voices.

Am I missing something here, or can someone tell me exactly how long it takes to 'type train' a driver on a new bus? The whole concept of it actually sounds like health and safety gone mad.

Even going back to the days of the first Leyland Nationals they used to have familiarisation for drivers in advance of them going into service.

7609 features a 'spare vehicle' version of the MAX livery: https://flic.kr/p/qMiNLX

Are the Redcar deckers transferred to Jesmond going to be used on a Nexus contract initially? So the Durham deckers won't be able to go for Max refurb til that finishes?

Are the Redcar deckers transferred to Jesmond going to be used on a Nexus contract initially? So the Durham deckers won't be able to go for Max refurb til that finishes?

Services 43, 44 and 45: Newcastle – Cramlington, Dinnington and Morpeth

We are increasing our fleet of double-deck buses for these services to ensure there are enough seats for everyone, especially at Monday to Friday peak times. There are no changes to the routes or timetables.
- See more at: http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-east/up...IXJJl.dpuf

Would assume that the ALX400s will return to Jesmond and be allocated alongside the Volvo B7TLs to services 43, 44 and 45?

7609 features a 'spare vehicle' version of the MAX livery: https://flic.kr/p/qMiNLX

"Your usual bus is in for a service today. So this is our spare. Enjoy your journey"

What it's supposed to say: "We couldn't be bothered to allocate our usual bus on today. Have a look on the 308. Enjoy hard leather seats and wifi that doesn't work"

"Your usual bus is in for a service today. So this is our spare. Enjoy your journey"

What it's supposed to say: "We couldn't be bothered to allocate our usual bus on today. Have a look on the 308. Enjoy hard leather seats and wifi that doesn't work"

Not like you to be so anti-Arriva, Tommy! 

Not like you to be so anti-Arriva, Tommy! 

Very anti-Arriva Blyth. Arrived in Blyth once on a 308 (a Max Gemini), all the buses in the bus station were on the wrong route. Quorum Commanders on 308 and 1, Quorum Geminis on X10/11, Max Geminis on X4/5 and X13...

7609 features a 'spare vehicle' version of the MAX livery: https://flic.kr/p/qMiNLX

Looks good but Tommy is right although it could be 'look on the X13 as we put a single decker on here aswell just to make you stand.'

Wonder what 7518 will say...

Wonder what 7518 will say...

I imagined a generic Sapphire - similar to 1512 and Redcar's example.