I'm on 684 (Little Pinks) and its shaking like mad when its not moving.

(03 Nov 2024, 6:37 pm)Tiger5105 wrote Is this the biggest white elephant in the Go North East fleet?
6337 last ran in service, i believe in May 2023 when it carried the Silver and Purple jubilee livery.
No sign of any progress as its sat at the front of Hownsgill for a while now.



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You could argue 729/730 the merc sprinters rival this for a complete waste of money - amazed they do t just cut their losses and sell them on.

(04 Nov 2024, 12:45 pm)Michael wrote I'm on 684 (Little Pinks) and its shaking like mad when its not moving.

Yes, it's an Optare Solo.

(04 Nov 2024, 4:40 pm)deanmachine wrote Yes, it's an Optare Solo.

I rarely use GNE so didn't know how bad it was!, are all the Solo's like that??

(27 Sep 2024, 8:50 pm)Tiger5105 wrote Its parked up at the front of the depot, minus front lower panel and headlight surrounds.
Its been off the road since last May! I bet the 69 plate E400 MMCs cant be that far behind, mileage wise now!


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(03 Nov 2024, 6:37 pm)Tiger5105 wrote Is this the biggest white elephant in the Go North East fleet?
6337 last ran in service, i believe in May 2023 when it carried the Silver and Purple jubilee livery.
No sign of any progress as its sat at the front of Hownsgill for a while now.



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(04 Nov 2024, 3:08 pm)xpm wrote You could argue 729/730 the merc sprinters rival this for a complete waste of money - amazed they do t just cut their losses and sell them on.

It was sitting at Saltmeadows for a while and seemed to move around alot. Last time I was near hownsgill a few weeks back they were still working on it, or at least appear to.

(04 Nov 2024, 4:46 pm)Michael wrote I rarely use GNE so didn't know how bad it was!, are all the Solo's like that??

I think it's an "Undocumented Design Feature" .....

Passed 5370 and its still got a half light and half dimmed display, i suppose it will get fixed soon its only been 2 years

(04 Nov 2024, 4:46 pm)Michael wrote I rarely use GNE so didn't know how bad it was!, are all the Solo's like that??

I think it must be due to an engine mount or something going bad, but yeah, you see an older solo sitting idling at it'll be slowly rattling itself to death. The first gen Solos were much more noticeable with it, but I guess the SRs are getting rather old now too.

(04 Nov 2024, 4:46 pm)Michael wrote I rarely use GNE so didn't know how bad it was!, are all the Solo's like that??

Surprised you've never been on a bus with engine idle mind. 

Cummins vehicles can be horrendous for it aswell.

There's a fair few Pulsars, Streetlites and Geminis lingering around in Northumberland with it aswell and Darts, Prestiges and obviously the Solos were also notorious.

And doesn't help when drivers rev the buses to stop the Stop/Start from working.

(12 Nov 2024, 5:25 pm)Storx wrote Surprised you've never been on a bus with engine idle mind. 

Cummins vehicles can be horrendous for it aswell.

There's a fair few Pulsars, Streetlites and Geminis lingering around in Northumberland with it aswell and Darts, Prestiges and obviously the Solos were also notorious.

I have but its mainly the enviros of Stagecoach but were talking about the solos.

(12 Nov 2024, 6:21 pm)Michael wrote I have but its mainly the enviros of Stagecoach but were talking about the solos.

Aye that's fair sounded like you've never had one before.

(12 Nov 2024, 7:13 pm)Storx wrote Aye that's fair sounded like you've never had one before.

I'd say nothing beats some of Percy Main's Daimler StreetLites though! Arriva's Cummins examples are way better!

I'd go as far to say that Daimler engined StreetLites give the Optare Excel a run for their money in the s***ness stakes, if not worse than an Excel!

(12 Nov 2024, 9:11 pm)L469 YVK wrote I'd say nothing beats some of Percy Main's Daimler StreetLites though! Arriva's Cummins examples are way better!

I'd go as far to say that Daimler engined StreetLites give the Optare Excel a run for their money in the s***ness stakes, if not worse than an Excel!

I absolutely loathe StreetLites, but some of the Daimler engined examples are a whole other level of cack, 1611 in particular is a hateful lump with the amount of rattles and other dreadful sounds it makes, along with the standard Lite claustrophobia.

(12 Nov 2024, 9:11 pm)L469 YVK wrote I'd say nothing beats some of Percy Main's Daimler StreetLites though! Arriva's Cummins examples are way better!

I'd go as far to say that Daimler engined StreetLites give the Optare Excel a run for their money in the s***ness stakes, if not worse than an Excel!

Must say I don't think I've ever suffered one before, and if I did I can't remember it anyway.

(13 Nov 2024, 5:54 pm)Storx wrote Must say I don't think I've ever suffered one before, and if I did I can't remember it anyway.

Put it this way, the SPD's which replaced them on the 300 & 305 were a massive upgrade!

(13 Nov 2024, 8:00 pm)L469 YVK wrote Put it this way, the SPD's which replaced them on the 300 & 305 were a massive upgrade!

Ah I was talking about the Daimler Streetlite's there rather than the Excel's. I definitely didn't suffer one of those but considering all Optare vehicles are pretty pants I wouldn't want to know what an actual bad vehicle was like.

Those Ikarus things that ended up at Blyth from a similar era were bad enough.

Preferred the Excels to the SPDs. SPDs were just as rattlely and claustaphobic compared to the Excel. The first batch of Excels was also the best as they had the single seat at the front and had proper bus seats (benches).

Excel interior - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...3229912170
SPD interior - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...2489343090

Does anyone have a conclusive answer of where Washington are short of buses at the moment? I notice that 709 is pretty much out daily at the moment on the mini bus services, which is really unsuitable at the best of times.

I tried to delve into it on Bustimes, but it looks like their allocations are a complete free for all still.

(20 Nov 2024, 12:00 pm)Adrian wrote Does anyone have a conclusive answer of where Washington are short of buses at the moment? I notice that 709 is pretty much out daily at the moment on the mini bus services, which is really unsuitable at the best of times.

I tried to delve into it on Bustimes, but it looks like their allocations are a complete free for all still.

Just quickly flicking through it seems like all over the place. Appears to be:

7 Streetdecks,
1 B9TL
2 Versas,
4 Streetlites,
1 Citaro,
1 Solo SR

Fair few vehicles off the road for a depot which isn't exactly big as it is. Probably explains the free for all allocations aswell since the 25/28/29 need E6 vehicles.

Looks like the wheels are literally falling off now.



Spotted on a local Facebook group. Bus reportedly lost a shredded tyre on Easby Road, before pulling up at Biddick Village Centre.

Maybe a nearby depot could support Washington and reduce disruption for passengers

Like Cheste…..oh wait

(20 Nov 2024, 12:16 pm)Storx wrote Just quickly flicking through it seems like all over the place. Appears to be:

7 Streetdecks,
1 B9TL
2 Versas,
4 Streetlites,
1 Citaro,
1 Solo SR

Fair few vehicles off the road for a depot which isn't exactly big as it is. Probably explains the free for all allocations aswell since the 25/28/29 need E6 vehicles.

Doesn't seem to be any long term VOR's with the 70 plate StreetDecks. 2x VOR today which in the grand scheme of things, isn't that bad and could just be for routine maintenance / testing.

(20 Nov 2024, 8:46 pm)L469 YVK wrote Doesn't seem to be any long term VOR's with the 70 plate StreetDecks. 2x VOR today which in the grand scheme of things, isn't that bad and could just be for routine maintenance / testing.

There does seem to be a huge gap in availability across depots. 

Take yesterday. Around school kicking out time the 21 dropped from 18/19 buses to 13 and there were 15 minutes gaps in service in Newcastle. 

The angel Streetdecks ended up on school services while the ex London heaps and the usual Versa filled the 21 gap

its just an ongoing shit storm

(20 Nov 2024, 9:50 pm)Ambassador wrote There does seem to be a huge gap in availability across depots. 
Take yesterday. Around school kicking out time the 21 dropped from 18/19 buses to 13 and there were 15 minutes gaps in service in Newcastle. 
The angel Streetdecks ended up on school services while the ex London heaps and the usual Versa filled the 21 gap

Single deckers are in service again today, including one of the SM13 StreetLites. Two double-deckers have been allocated to hospital shuttles. This raises the question: why was there such a rush to withdraw all the Omnidekkas and hybrids if they are now struggling for double-deckers?

(21 Nov 2024, 6:32 pm)WestDurhamSwift wrote Single deckers are in service again today, including one of the SM13 StreetLites. Two double-deckers have been allocated to hospital shuttles. This raises the question: why was there such a rush to withdraw all the Omnidekkas and hybrids if they are now struggling for double-deckers?

I would guess maintenance costs? Unless they weren't Euro6, but I assumed they were

3 Versas running on the 21 today with Angel Streetdecks on the 27, X10 and the rest on the X21

(22 Nov 2024, 11:07 am)Ambassador wrote I would guess maintenance costs? Unless they weren't Euro6, but I assumed they were

3 Versas running on the 21 today with Angel Streetdecks on the 27, X10 and the rest on the X21

StreetDecks except 6377 should be no where near the X10!

Should be a B9TL deputising if 6377 or E400MMC not available!

(04 Nov 2024, 3:08 pm)xpm wrote You could argue 729/730 the merc sprinters rival this for a complete waste of money - amazed they do t just cut their losses and sell them on.

Isnt this the little buses often used for  Nexus Contracts in small tight estates... I recall them being used in CLS during a road closure and was used to ferry people from the estates onto the main services 

It could also be argubly used to compete with GCT in some contracts

Well those were probably the reason GNE got the later 939 slot on a morning that Nexus was going to cancel due to low ridership as its one of the lowest capacity vehicles in any fleet so.