(25 Apr 2014, 9:49 pm)nk55 wrote I've included 2 spares from the diamond batch, 1 at chester & 1 at stanley. Thats why the new vehicle order has been left at 13.
(13 Apr 2014, 10:33 am)Davey Bowyer wrote Does anyone know of Scania's euro 6 offering as of yet?
(13 Apr 2014, 9:49 pm)Davey Bowyer wrote The only way the Red Arrows would be upgraded is if Scania come up with a suitable euro 6 chassis and powerful engine on the E400 body and GNE forgive them for the parts trouble that they had a few year back.
(25 Apr 2014, 9:56 pm)Michael wrote It will have its own 2 spares on the order, which will be at chester and stanley (1 at each depot) so it wont need the diamond ones.. how ever it might not get citaros due to them being long routes.
(25 Apr 2014, 10:21 pm)Robert wrote Id hope they don't get Citaros. Although I am quite fond of them I think this new Volvo B8RLE would cope much better on the routes. Especially with the 8 going onto the Washington Highway and the A19 albeit this is just for a few seconds/minutes.
(26 Apr 2014, 4:52 am)Dan wrote The Wear Tees Xpress is proof that Mercs could work though. Arguably one of the most demanding services for a single decker, and the Merc manages it effortlessly.
(26 Apr 2014, 4:52 am)Dan wrote The Wear Tees Xpress is proof that Mercs could work though. Arguably one of the most demanding services for a single decker, and the Merc manages it effortlessly.
(26 Apr 2014, 4:52 am)Dan wrote The Wear Tees Xpress is proof that Mercs could work though. Arguably one of the most demanding services for a single decker, and the Merc manages it effortlessly.
(26 Apr 2014, 8:40 am)Michael wrote Forgot about that route XD, i agree they have coped on the X7 with every run being a citaro, no breakdowns so far?
They could work but still think GNE will go for something else
(26 Apr 2014, 5:27 am)citaro5284 wrote They do a lot more than 186 miles a day, it is roughly just over 80 on a round trip, most vehicles do 4 trips, so that is at least 320 miles.
(26 Apr 2014, 12:59 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote So on average TTX B9TL must do just over a 1000 Miles per week on the X9/X10, And been doing that for almost 2 Years Now, No wonder there suffering with Reliabillity Issues, Would love to see the Mileage on Clock for one of these Vehicles, Hopefully one will be at MetroCentre Bus Rally Next Sunday, so I can have a look.
(26 Apr 2014, 1:01 pm)citaro5284 wrote Slightly more than 1000.....6 days a week at 320 miles a day = 1920 miles!
(26 Apr 2014, 1:07 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote That's why I put "Over a 1000 Miles" as I knew it would be over that Figure, I'm guessing your not including Dead Mileage up to Middlesbrough for the First Journey of the Day, otherwise it be over 2000 Miles per week for each Vehicle.
(26 Apr 2014, 9:56 pm)aureolin wrote Personally think that taking the Citaros from the Diamond would be a mistake. That route pretty much killed the Renowns that it had, and its' been spot on since the Citaros arrived.
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(26 Apr 2014, 9:56 pm)aureolin wrote Personally think that taking the Citaros from the Diamond would be a mistake. That route pretty much killed the Renowns that it had, and its' been spot on since the Citaros arrived.
(26 Apr 2014, 10:03 pm)tyresmoke wrote I'm not convinced, every time I go up there's tons of yellow action due to missing Citaros! Can't deny it killed the B10s though, but I'm not sure its improved now the Citaros have been run in a bit...
(26 Apr 2014, 10:07 pm)NEBCD Malarkey wrote To be honest though in recent months how many times have we seen a Renown/President/Lolyne/Olympian or more Recently Venture Solo SR's to appear on the 43/44/44A, Plus with the Addition of Citaros 5337/5338 would indicate Reliability Issues on the Diamond Services, Although the Red Kite 45/46 is Arguably just as Bad as the Diamond.
(26 Apr 2014, 9:56 pm)aureolin wrote Personally think that taking the Citaros from the Diamond would be a mistake. That route pretty much killed the Renowns that it had, and its' been spot on since the Citaros arrived.
(27 Apr 2014, 5:56 am)Dan wrote No depot is perfect with every depot having an 'issue' that can be picked out (whether it is allocations, engineering, etc). To me it suggests that the 'issue' lies with Stanley's engineering department.
Stanley is a good example of how a depot should be run. With the exception of the "Venture" Solo SR allocations, Stanley are pretty good when it comes to allocating branded vehicles to the correct services (just compare Stanley to Riverside).
Despite this, you'll find they have almost every vehicle of their spare vehicle allocation out in action on a daily basis, while the branded vehicles are repaired.
Part of their spare vehicle allocation (on weekends/school holidays) is made up by the "Yellow Bus" branded Olympians, and you'll find that branded vehicles are often substitued for these vehicles - much to the annoyance of higher management. I'd argue that Stanley are applying 'quick fixes' to get the branded vehicles out straight away (thereby keeping GNE management's faces straight!) and not actually fixing the issues properly with the vehicles.
With this in mind, things SHOULD improve by the end of the year - once the Olympians have departed the fleet. For now I think the current allocation works well.
(27 Apr 2014, 9:27 am)Robert wrote [quote'nk55' pid='40603' dateline='1398589318']
Going back a few months, gne had a red versa on the diamond network before it went onto the 58. Thinking back i'm of the opinion that the vehicle was "liked" by drivers & passengers alike. I think part of the 80 bus order will go to optare for diamond upgrade if not for the lime & toon link aswell.
(27 Apr 2014, 10:43 am)Michael wrote All the Lime B10's will be withdrawn.
It will gain 13 new branded buses and 2 spare (1 each at chester/stanley)
Sure this was confirmed ages ago by a few people on here..
(27 Apr 2014, 11:22 am)Robert wrote Yes, we know what is going to happen with the new buses and what will happen to the Renowns, we were just talking about the Renowns and looking at possibly what is making them so unreliable...
(27 Apr 2014, 11:35 am)Marcus wrote When you think about it, they've survived nearly 8 years on probably one of GNE's most demanding routes (and if I'm not mistaken they were already used on it as the 778) I'm honestly surprised they haven't fallen apart yet. I know they'll be withdrawn and sold, but they would make excellent driver training vehicles. I'd love to train in a Renown if I was to become a driver (I think there's that 15 meter law or something like that though). Hats off to whoever at Volvo that built those 13 buses.
(27 Apr 2014, 11:45 am)Andreos Constantopolous wrote 775/778 and 194/294 before then.
Said a few months ago, they're the modern version of the National.
Although some models look tatty, the bodywork looks to have lasted too.
If you think back, the amount of b10 vehicles up and down the country, going back to step entrance Alexander versions from early L/M reg examples, have lasted and performed well. Well beyond anything else.
(27 Apr 2014, 11:35 am)Marcus wrote When you think about it, they've survived nearly 8 years on probably one of GNE's most demanding routes (and if I'm not mistaken they were already used on it as the 778) I'm honestly surprised they haven't fallen apart yet. I know they'll be withdrawn and sold, but they would make excellent driver training vehicles. I'd love to train in a Renown if I was to become a driver (I think there's that 15 meter law or something like that though). Hats off to whoever at Volvo that built those 13 buses.