(22 Oct 2023, 2:14 am)busmanT wrote Go North West might do what Diamond did and put most of the fleet in the “TfGM pool” for allocation to the incoming operators. 

I do believe Stagecoach are intending to move their own fleet in - judging by the amount of Hyde Road and Stockport-allocated E400MMCs being painted into 'Bee Network' livery at present, especially in light of the large order of electric Volvo BZLs destined for Stockport.
I wouldn't at all be surprised if most of the Queen Road fleet now either ends up on the present GNW Bee Network work, cascaded to other Go Ahead divisions or scrapped.

(22 Oct 2023, 9:20 am)Unber43 wrote I do quite like. the Hybrids we have now, I like the eletric move off then into diesel. However I feel like the masssive issue is the reliability of the the fleet especially in the past two years it seems like its fell off a cliff, and there is probably two reasons for that, theyre getting up there in ages and the route the 16/16A/X5/X15 have some hills that you crawl up in some of them, some shoot up but not most. 

9 being off at a time is a joke.

Also whats going to happen with the Durham Diamond Branding and the Xlines Yellow with them all being withdrawn?

To be honest the hybrids have been put on overkill routes, I'm sure hybrid buses are intended for short hop journey routes like the gateshead locals or the 1 that they were ordered for.

In regards to the branding, half of the X-Lines routes have been shot off and they haven’t bothered to replace them so I can’t see them repainting anything into the X-lines yellow. Durham Diamond branding will probably go too, when the Sunderland district buses were cascaded around they never bothered to repaint the other buses allocated, same with the orbit so I don’t see them repainting different buses to the same branding not anytime soon at least.

(22 Oct 2023, 10:36 am)ALavery wrote To be honest the hybrids have been put on overkill routes, I'm sure hybrid buses are intended for short hop journey routes like the gateshead locals or the 1 that they were ordered for.

In regards to the branding, half of the X-Lines routes have been shot off and they haven’t bothered to replace them so I can’t see them repainting anything into the X-lines yellow. Durham Diamond branding will probably go too, when the Sunderland district buses were cascaded around they never bothered to repaint the other buses allocated, same with the orbit so I don’t see them repainting different buses to the same branding not anytime soon at least.

If memory serves correctly, the hybrids were originally ordered for the 21, to replace the Dual-door Red B7s on there. Travelled on those hybrids a lot when they were new on the 21, and they were far superior to anything else that had been on there, at that time. I personally loved them!

(22 Oct 2023, 2:14 pm)Arcticrossy92 wrote If memory serves correctly, the hybrids were originally ordered for the 21, to replace the Dual-door Red B7s on there. Travelled on those hybrids a lot when they were new on the 21, and they were far superior to anything else that had been on there, at that time. I personally loved them!

I love them on the 1. Way better than the StreetLite now. Comfortable and a really nice ride to be on

(22 Oct 2023, 2:14 pm)Arcticrossy92 wrote If memory serves correctly, the hybrids were originally ordered for the 21, to replace the Dual-door Red B7s on there. Travelled on those hybrids a lot when they were new on the 21, and they were far superior to anything else that had been on there, at that time. I personally loved them!

They were awful on Arriva's 308 though with the slip roads on the Coast Road! Arriva ended up increasing the PVR to 10x but 7801-10 ended up moving to West Yorkshire not long after!

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As for Tyne Valley Ten B9TLs being off the road, would it not be better having a "Sunday" allocation consisting of Angel StreetDecks and XLines B5TL's to conserve the B9TLs?

Wonder when GNE eventually receive EV's for the 21, whether the StreetDecks will end up on the Tyne Valley Ten, or they will end up on the 56 or 307 & 309 with less leggy B9TLs making up the numbers on the Tyne Valley Ten.

Bearing in mind, 6071-83 have been worked hard as the Tyne Valley Ten didn't really have much 'cover' for the full PVR until 2017 and even then, 6043-48 weren't the most reliable after being hammered up and down the A19 for 5 years!

Quite a testament to older vehicle build quality and reliabilty given ex-Arriva 7370-77 did the 602 for 6 years then pretty much spent the rest of their next 10-11 years on the Ashington & Alnwick 'X' routes bar short stints at Blyth & Jesmond.

(22 Oct 2023, 4:08 pm)L469 YVK wrote They were awful on Arriva's 308 though with the slip roads on the Coast Road! Arriva ended up increasing the PVR to 10x but 7801-10 ended up moving to West Yorkshire not long after!

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As for Tyne Valley Ten B9TLs being off the road, would it not be better having a "Sunday" allocation consisting of Angel StreetDecks and XLines B5TL's to conserve the B9TLs?

Wonder when GNE eventually receive EV's for the 21, whether the StreetDecks will end up on the Tyne Valley Ten, or they will end up on the 56 or 307 & 309 with less leggy B9TLs making up the numbers on the Tyne Valley Ten.

Bearing in mind, 6071-83 have been worked hard as the Tyne Valley Ten didn't really have much 'cover' for the full PVR until 2017 and even then, 6043-48 weren't the most reliable after being hammered up and down the A19 for 5 years!

Quite a testament to older vehicle build quality and reliabilty given ex-Arriva 7370-77 did the 602 for 6 years then pretty much spent the rest of their next 10-11 years on the Ashington & Alnwick 'X' routes bar short stints at Blyth & Jesmond.

I've said it before GNE needs atleast 100 buses to sort out their aging fleet, 120-130 would probably be better

(22 Oct 2023, 4:08 pm)L469 YVK wrote They were awful on Arriva's 308 though with the slip roads on the Coast Road! Arriva ended up increasing the PVR to 10x but 7801-10 ended up moving to West Yorkshire not long after!

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As for Tyne Valley Ten B9TLs being off the road, would it not be better having a "Sunday" allocation consisting of Angel StreetDecks and XLines B5TL's to conserve the B9TLs?

Wonder when GNE eventually receive EV's for the 21, whether the StreetDecks will end up on the Tyne Valley Ten, or they will end up on the 56 or 307 & 309 with less leggy B9TLs making up the numbers on the Tyne Valley Ten.

Bearing in mind, 6071-83 have been worked hard as the Tyne Valley Ten didn't really have much 'cover' for the full PVR until 2017 and even then, 6043-48 weren't the most reliable after being hammered up and down the A19 for 5 years!

Quite a testament to older vehicle build quality and reliabilty given ex-Arriva 7370-77 did the 602 for 6 years then pretty much spent the rest of their next 10-11 years on the Ashington & Alnwick 'X' routes bar short stints at Blyth & Jesmond.

I wonder whether part of the problem with buses off road for lengthier periods of time is down to closing depots and the amount of staff and bays to do PSV prep nowadays.  Youve got to consider that without chester they now have to do whatever PSV numbers they already struggled to do a Riverside + what used to be done at chester for service and NatEx as well, unless they're contracting out the NatEx PSV work to a third party.

I've said it before that the Cobalt and Coast B9s have had very much a charmed life compared to most of the other fleets of B9s, the mileage is considerably lower.  The B9s as a rule are pretty solid, ABS, NOX, and Air Pressure sensors, and ramp switches used to be most of the simple issues, gearboxes in later life, Eminox conversion just caused grief with them - in fact now I come to think of it, most buses I drove that had eminox conversions had recurrent derate issues - maybe GNE backed the wrong horse with Eminox.

A lot of the TVT fleet ended up being hammered on the X9/X10s when their B9s and B5s were failing - moreso once the tacho restriction was removed for the service.

(22 Oct 2023, 2:14 pm)Arcticrossy92 wrote If memory serves correctly, the hybrids were originally ordered for the 21, to replace the Dual-door Red B7s on there. Travelled on those hybrids a lot when they were new on the 21, and they were far superior to anything else that had been on there, at that time. I personally loved them!

They were! I completely forgot about that. Even then apart from the section between Chester and Durham that’s a pretty much stop start route, especially with how busy it is. I don’t know who thought putting them on the X5/15 and 16/A with its steep hills was a good idea.

(23 Oct 2023, 12:11 pm)ALavery wrote They were! I completely forgot about that. Even then apart from the section between Chester and Durham that’s a pretty much stop start route, especially with how busy it is. I don’t know who thought putting them on the X5/15 and 16/A with its steep hills was a good idea.

I'm not sure how the hybrid system works on them but in theory having the electric motor running in conjunction with the diesel engine on the hills should put less strain on the engine.

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(23 Oct 2023, 5:24 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I'm not sure how the hybrid system works on them but in theory having the electric motor running in conjunction with the diesel engine on the hills should put less strain on the engine.

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It's just at very low speeds isn't it? So you don't waste diesel when pulling away hence they're completely useless on routes which don't stop start every 2 minutes so it's just an older B5TL pretty much. 

It's why they're good on stuff in places like London and theory the 39/40 in Newcastle etc.

(23 Oct 2023, 5:51 pm)Storx wrote It's just at very low speeds isn't it? So you don't waste diesel when pulling away hence they're completely useless on routes which don't stop start every 2 minutes so it's just an older B5TL pretty much. 

It's why they're good on stuff in places like London and theory the 39/40 in Newcastle etc.

Just looking at the Network it seems in theory they could have worked on the 21/1/10's perhaps the 78 (when it went through Pelton Fell)

(23 Oct 2023, 5:58 pm)Unber43 wrote Just looking at the Network it seems in theory they could have worked on the 21/1/10's perhaps the 78 (when it went through Pelton Fell)

GNE wise, personally I'd say stuff like the 1/27/51/52/93/94, all 30 mph pretty much their whole route with traffic lights etc.

10 is a bit non stop West of Crawcrook, similar with the 21 South of CLS.

(23 Oct 2023, 5:51 pm)Storx wrote It's just at very low speeds isn't it? So you don't waste diesel when pulling away hence they're completely useless on routes which don't stop start every 2 minutes so it's just an older B5TL pretty much. 

It's why they're good on stuff in places like London and theory the 39/40 in Newcastle etc.

Not sure, it depends on how their system is designed.

I know some hybrid systems can use the electric motor at higher speeds, and some can also use it between gear changes to smooth out the torque (obviously not the case with the B5Hs!)

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(23 Oct 2023, 7:53 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Not sure, it depends on how their system is designed.

I know some hybrid systems can use the electric motor at higher speeds, and some can also use it between gear changes to smooth out the torque (obviously not the case with the B5Hs!)

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I know this is in reference to car, but my friend was on about getting a hybrid and she said it will use it electric motor under 37mph, as her friend had one and drives about 40 mins a day to work and put £40 in it a month go.

(23 Oct 2023, 6:09 pm)Storx wrote GNE wise, personally I'd say stuff like the 1/27/51/52/93/94, all 30 mph pretty much their whole route with traffic lights etc.

10 is a bit non stop West of Crawcrook, similar with the 21 South of CLS.

Given that ex-Arriva 7430-35 struggled on the 602 and to the extent that by the time they got to Jesmond after a short stint at Blyth, the Sunday 306 boards were allocated B10BLEs or Palatine IIs, I doubt B5LHs would be a sensible choice on the 10/10A/10B!

Ex First Streetlite, spotted in a Yellow base livery for Go North East

5511 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/62607125@N...1696770834 - photo by Chris Hinds

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2 streetlites also spotted heading up to Riverside near Harrogate - photo by Barry Gill in the North East Bus Enthusiasts Facebook group.

(26 Nov 2023, 4:19 pm)Michael wrote Ex First Streetlite, spotted in a Yellow base livery for Go North East

5511 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/62607125@N...1696770834 - photo by Chris Hinds

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2 streetlites also spotted heading up to Riverside near Harrogate - photo by Barry Gill in the North East Bus Enthusiasts Facebook group.

Base Yellow? Go North West surely.

(26 Nov 2023, 6:19 pm)54APhotography wrote Base Yellow? Go North West surely.

New Training livery , One of the omnicities done in same base apparently

Oh its for the stupid best driver thing that GNW did.

I prefer the old Blue with the Solar's

5517 (NDU) and 5519 (NDX) are both in a yellow base livery, just sighted them at Saltmeadows

Photo of 5519 and 5517 at Saltmeadows - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...3369730804

(01 Dec 2023, 10:50 pm)Rapidsnap wrote Photo of 5519 and 5517 at Saltmeadows - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...3369730804

Wonder if they could be advertising jobs, as I doubt they'll be for training, as they've been refurbished.

(02 Dec 2023, 9:33 am)Michael wrote Wonder if they could be advertising jobs, as I doubt they'll be for training, as they've been refurbished.

Good point, I’d been wondering that. 
I would’ve thought though, for the most impact of the Driver Training Academy adverts, you’d want them on double deckers, as GNW did.

I see on Facebook there is at least 4 ADL Enviro 400s transferred up to the North East, these being ex Go-Ahead London. They are stored at Hexham depot and they are:
E163 SN61 BGF
E167 SN61 BGV
E170 SN61 BGZ
E171 SN61 BHA

(02 Dec 2023, 9:03 pm)Rapidsnap wrote I see on Facebook there is at least 4 ADL Enviro 400s transferred up to the North East, these being ex Go-Ahead London. They are stored at Hexham depot and they are:
E163 SN61 BGF
E167 SN61 BGV
E170 SN61 BGZ
E171 SN61 BHA

Flickr Link : https://flic.kr/p/2pjeAai


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(03 Dec 2023, 9:40 am)Xlines 6335 wrote

Flickr Link : https://flic.kr/p/2pjeAai


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

With the newer headlight cluster design. Nice.

(02 Dec 2023, 9:33 am)Michael wrote Wonder if they could be advertising jobs, as I doubt they'll be for training, as they've been refurbished.

Could they not be for Hexham and the Tynedale Links either? Would displace the microfleet of Versa's to Riverside instead of Consett having to deal with 3 random Versa's. It appears one of them is already working for Consett today.

(04 Dec 2023, 12:12 pm)Storx wrote Could they not be for Hexham and the Tynedale Links either? Would displace the microfleet of Versa's to Riverside instead of Consett having to deal with 3 random Versa's. It appears one of them is already working for Consett today.

It was a Venture SR that was tracking as the Streetlite. Also for Tynedale Links, it would need its blue. So Purely going off 6155, I think it might a Campaign advert for the 'Join the Elite' Trainer thing.

Wouldn't be the first time that a Venture Solo SR tracked as something it wasn't, I recall one tracking as the since departed Volvo B9R / Plaxton Elite coach 7157 a while back. Obviously there is drivers that try and troll enthusiasts by inputting incorrect fleetnumbers to send them on wild goose chases after certain vehicles either a recently acquired one or a rare working like a Voltra E12 on the X21.

(04 Dec 2023, 9:02 pm)Rapidsnap wrote Wouldn't be the first time that a Venture Solo SR tracked as something it wasn't, I recall one tracking as the since departed Volvo B9R / Plaxton Elite coach 7157 a while back. Obviously there is drivers that try and troll enthusiasts by inputting incorrect fleetnumbers to send them on wild goose chases after certain vehicles either a recently acquired one or a rare working like a Voltra E12 on the X21.

Yes the Solo SR did track as 7157 once