Got on the 36 last night it was a Little E200MMC full to the brim all the way to greatham not letting anyone on yet they could load uo the 36 with their 2 deckers, MAN E300s, Transbus E300, ALX300 for more capacity rather than those horrible tiny MMC's its as if their isnt any thought put into the allocations hoepfully tonight it will be different it is shocking.

The MMCs have a larger seating capacity than the ALX300s
Meanwhile, the deckers are out - one is on 12s and the other is on 57/58

Alx300s have more seats than the mmcs and a lot more standing space surely? And thats my point why would you put the deckers on the 57/58 when its clearly needed for the 36 as well as the transbus they are long af

Alx300s have more seats than the mmcs and a lot more standing space surely? And thats my point why would you put the deckers on the 57/58 when its clearly needed for the 36 as well as the transbus they are long af

MMCs seat 43 - the ALXs only seat 42.

The MMCs have a larger seating capacity than the ALX300s
Meanwhile, the deckers are out - one is on 12s and the other is on 57/58

Which is pretty ridiculous when you consider what the busiest corridor is going to be when Tall Ships is on...

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They have a hard job putting open toppers out on a regular basis since 3 of them have went on holiday to the Peak District.

As for the new buses, they should be in service within a few days, a week at the most since they are a known vehicle type. Only once they enter service is when they will appear on bus times.

They only need the one to run that timetable and 17239 seems to have been pretty reliable since it returned to service - though understandably not been out today.  Given the shitty forecast for the next fortnight it may not get out much then either!

Brand new Stagecoach North East Walkergate based 11609 YX23 OTN courtesy of Harry Barker on Flickr. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/189134926@...032074960/

Looks good glad they gone with traditional mirrors and not the cameras!

Brand new Stagecoach North East Walkergate based 11609 YX23 OTN courtesy of Harry Barker on Flickr. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/189134926@...032074960/

Looks good glad they gone with traditional mirrors and not the camera!


Thank goodness the photo finally came and does harry have a better shot of the seat leather/maquette because I just want to know out of interest.Is it like the 39/40 MMCs

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Also what will they be allocated on

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Also what will they be allocated on

No idea tbh mate, not sure what they’re replacing if it’s the hybrids, or the older e400’s. But I’d imagine once all have been received they’ll just blend in with the others and just be used on anything, I’d imagine the same with 11281-11503 will be used on whatever meaning 39/40 will get some of the new ones.

No idea tbh mate, not sure what they’re replacing if it’s the hybrids, or the older e400’s. But I’d imagine once all have been received they’ll just blend in with the others and just be used on anything, I’d imagine the same with 11281-11503 will be used on whatever meaning 39/40 will get some of the new ones.

Thanks for the info mate because I wanna catch these with my local service 39/40 so I was worried I couldn’t catch them

Stagecoach has been widely panned by Hartlepool residents for the under capacity of local buses this weekend. Is it sour grapes after shelling out sponsorship to get snubbed for the P&R?

Maybe it’s that commercialism of buses is dead. Perhaps the umpteen revenue streams from public funds now makes up so much of an operator’s income that it’s not worth getting out of bed for a few hundred extra £2s in the cash tray. The lump sum nature of bus operator grants means they can forecast medium term revenues (and any profits) fairly stability. Why bother moving deckers around and extending the late 36s over the bridge?

Stagecoach has been widely panned by Hartlepool residents for the under capacity of local buses this weekend. Is it sour grapes after shelling out sponsorship to get snubbed for the P&R?

Maybe it’s that commercialism of buses is dead. Perhaps the umpteen revenue streams from public funds now makes up so much of an operator’s income that it’s not worth getting out of bed for a few hundred extra £2s in the cash tray. The lump sum nature of bus operator grants means they can forecast medium term revenues (and any profits) fairly stability. Why bother moving deckers around and extending the late 36s over the bridge?

Stagecoach do have a lot of questions to answer.  They was no reason at least yesterday and today why the 36 couldn’t have been double deckers.  They also no reason why larger single deckers and drivers from other depots couldn’t have been used to put more 7s on. I predicted last week what would happen I was correct.  Stagecoach have badly planned this weekend I would love to know why they didn’t bring bigger buses and double deckers though.

To be honest aswell they could've used the Sunday route around the Manor aswell and kept the 7 standalone for the last couple of days to reduce knock on delays onto the 6 too. But instead they decided to reduce the frequency from every 10 to 12 minutes to offset the delays. So not only was there no larger buses, there was fewer running too

It will be interesting to see what is used on the 59 tomorrow. If it a pvr of 3 then am going to guess one of the 397s and then either one of the 360s and 345s or 2 of the 360s. How long before a break down happens though ?

When Newcastle get new 400 MMC will Stockton get there old 400 double dockers buses?

To be honest aswell they could've used the Sunday route around the Manor aswell and kept the 7 standalone for the last couple of days to reduce knock on delays onto the 6 too. But instead they decided to reduce the frequency from every 10 to 12 minutes to offset the delays. So not only was there no larger buses, there was fewer running too

I was under the impression more or at least the normal amount of buses were running, slightly lower frequency but offset by the increased running times.


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When Newcastle get new 400 MMC will Stockton get there old 400 double dockers buses?

Only if there's a business justification for Stockton to get deckers.  Otherwise they'll be cascaded around the Stagecoach empire - plenty of operations still using ALX400s!

To be honest aswell they could've used the Sunday route around the Manor aswell and kept the 7 standalone for the last couple of days to reduce knock on delays onto the 6 too. But instead they decided to reduce the frequency from every 10 to 12 minutes to offset the delays. So not only was there no larger buses, there was fewer running too

The 6/7 still interwork on Sunday daytimes at Owton Manor and have done since Covid. It’s only on evenings when the 7 does the loop.
And the frequency reduction was indeed to help with the delays - instead of trying to find extra drivers and buses, use the existing resources to your advantage (plus gets people use to when they officially drop to every 12 minutes at the end of the month).

The 6/7 still interwork on Sunday daytimes at Owton Manor and have done since Covid. It’s only on evenings when the 7 does the loop.
And the frequency reduction was indeed to help with the delays - instead of trying to find extra drivers and buses, use the existing resources to your advantage (plus gets people use to when they officially drop to every 12 minutes at the end of the month).

I got off the 7 yesterday one stop before my primary bus stop, as there was queue of traffic. I still beat the bus . Made sense to drop the frequency . However, it was half hourly yesteday which was strange.

Anymore new 400MMC due at Newcastle depot yet?

24116 PX59 AZB currently sat at the back of Slatyford depot had broken down not long after arriving from Carlisle and had then been used for parts has now been put back together. Be interesting to see if that is to re-enter service be up in Newcastle on service 6/7 like 22581 or if it’ll head to Stockton.

I would like to think that the new E400MMC's would not be scattered among a number of routes but stuck to a set route, from looking at PVR's they should be going on the 22's.

When is 27254 entering service again, it hasn’t been in service since the start of June

The last thing that open topper needs is more advertising. Plenty of drivers complain they can't keep their time cos the passengers are going to B but they'll go to A cos it's an open topper...

I would like to see the E services renumbered as simply the 1, 2 and 6. These numbers are unallocated in both Sunderland and South Shields, so wouldn't confuse passengers.

The E1 number could then be used for a seasonal open top service along the coast. Would be nice to have the open toppers in the old Economic brown and cream, would suit the ALX400 really well.

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I would like to see the E services renumbered as simply the 1, 2 and 6. These numbers are unallocated in both Sunderland and South Shields, so wouldn't confuse passengers.

The E1 number could then be used for a seasonal open top service along the coast. Would be nice to have the open toppers in the old  Economic brown and cream, would suit the ALX400 really well.

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Disagree, I think the open toppers should be on a route numbered E1X, or E3 that takes the entire coast route then up Ocean Road into Shields.

When is 27254 entering service again, it hasn’t been in service since the start of June

From what I understand it was having some engine troubles, drinking coolant faster than the other 27***’s. It’s currently in Slatyford engineering has been since being repainted hopefully won’t be much longer before being let back out in service.

24116 PX59 AZB currently sat at the back of Slatyford depot had broken down not long after arriving from Carlisle and had then been used for parts has now been put back together. Be interesting to see if that is to re-enter service be up in Newcastle on service 6/7 like 22581 or if it’ll head to Stockton.

Spotted this too, seemed to have received donor parts from a beachball example on the rear.

I would like to see the E services renumbered as simply the 1, 2 and 6. These numbers are unallocated in both Sunderland and South Shields, so wouldn't confuse passengers.

The E1 number could then be used for a seasonal open top service along the coast. Would be nice to have the open toppers in the old  Economic brown and cream, would suit the ALX400 really well.

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South Shields does have the 1 and 2 though, Saturdays Sundays and Bank Holidays.

24116 has been off road for months so why Stockton get some more second hard buses like EX300 from Scotland there better buses I think?

South Shields does have the 1 and 2 though, Saturdays Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Whens duplicate numbers ever been a problem

Spotted this too, seemed to have received donor parts from a beachball example on the rear.

Was surprised to see it, it’ll have to go for repaint again assumed it would no longer be seen then all of a sudden put back together

I would like to see the E services renumbered as simply the 1, 2 and 6. These numbers are unallocated in both Sunderland and South Shields, so wouldn't confuse passengers.

The E1 number could then be used for a seasonal open top service along the coast. Would be nice to have the open toppers in the old  Economic brown and cream, would suit the ALX400 really well.

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No point in renumbering a services which have 36 years history running as E1/2/6. People refer to them as the ‘E’ buses. I do agree, that the old Ecomomic  livery would look good.