ALL of the 13xx darts are awful. I've driven all of them at Darlington now (1306 yesterday being the latest) and they are an embarrassment in every single way. At the very least they all need new engines, but realistically they have just sent better for scrap. 1308 arrived in Darlington 20 mins late this afternoon and got taken out of service, it is by far the worst of the bunch.

I can't stand them, I refuse to use service 8/8A because they are that bad, I wanted to go from Darlington Town Centre to Morrisons the other day and I didn't get on it and instead jumped on the Scarlet Band 16.

If you want to know how bad they are, I jumped on one on the 64 at the Arnison Centre the other week and the GNE 14 pulled in behind and it was a Vyking and I was thinking that I'd rather be on the Vyking!

(01 Nov 2014, 2:01 am)Jimmi wrote I can't stand them, I refuse to use service 8/8A because they are that bad, I wanted to go from Darlington Town Centre to Morrisons the other day and I didn't get on it and instead jumped on the Scarlet Band 16.

If you want to know how bad they are, I jumped on one on the 64 at the Arnison Centre the other week and the GNE 14 pulled in behind and it was a Vyking and I was thinking that I'd rather be on the Vyking!

They must be really bad, if you were thinking of jumping on a Vyking! 

They must be really bad, if you were thinking of jumping on a Vyking!

They are, although I was also thinking that I'd rather be on the Vyking because the 14 is about 5 minutes faster than the 64.

1426 is just about to get towed in by Bradley's from Darlington town centre, it's been sat there since 08:45 this morning

1426 is just about to get towed in by Bradley's from Darlington town centre, it's been sat there since 08:45 this morning

Think I had this the other day and it sounded terrible.

Not as bad as 1427 which was making some terrible sounding noises, especially bad when going round the roundabout passing the steel man in Aycliffe on the 5 the other day.

On a recent visit to Exeter noticed most town services used E200s,would be good to see these used in darlington instead of the SLF and MPD darts.Very keen to see what's gonna be cascaded once the streetlite's and Max omnicities come into service. Where will the branded X1 pulsars end up, would they be suitable on the 8s! Agree with jimmi that this route needs better stock. Guess we'll see the ex P&R solo's from durham replace the darts!

On a recent visit to Exeter noticed most town services used E200s,would be good to see these used in darlington instead of the SLF and MPD darts.Very keen to see what's gonna be cascaded once the streetlite's and Max omnicities come into service. Where will the branded X1 pulsars end up, would they be suitable on the 8s! Agree with jimmi that this route needs better stock. Guess we'll see the ex P&R solo's from durham replace the darts!

I think 1404/5/6 were rumoured to be moving to Belmont depot and 1407 will stay at Darlington depot, but I'm not sure that this is still the case. I think Pulsars were rumoured to be used on the 75/76 as I think Arriva are started to be pressured into putting younger buses on this route.

I think the ex Durham Park and Ride Solos are displacing the newer MPDs to Blyth depot. I think Darlington were also due to receive an additional 5 Solos from Belmont depot following the Service 23 StreetLites entering service but this hasn't happened.

I think the additional Solos and Omnicitys arriving at Darlington depot soon will help withdraw the older Darts and I imagine Arriva will invest in new buses to replace the Darts and other non DDA compliant buses by the end of next year.

Service 8/8A definitely needs better buses as them Darts can't cope with the route, recently I have seen these services running 10 minutes late alot lately and that's if they haven't broken down, they didn't seem to have these problems when MPDs were allocated. I don't think Pulsars would be suitable as I think they would struggle to get round York Hill Estate in Spennymoor.

(01 Nov 2014, 2:44 pm)Jimmi wrote I think 1404/5/6 were rumoured to be moving to Belmont depot and 1407 will stay at Darlington depot, but I'm not sure that this is still the case. I think Pulsars were rumoured to be used on the 75/76 as I think Arriva are started to be pressured into putting younger buses on this route.

I think the ex Durham Park and Ride Solos are displacing the newer MPDs to Blyth depot. I think Darlington were also due to receive an additional 5 Solos from Belmont depot following the Service 23 StreetLites entering service but this hasn't happened.

I think the additional Solos and Omnicitys arriving at Darlington depot soon will help withdraw the older Darts and I imagine Arriva will invest in new buses to replace the Darts and other non DDA compliant buses by the end of next year.

Service 8/8A definitely needs better buses as them Darts can't cope with the route, recently I have seen these services running 10 minutes late alot lately and that's if they haven't broken down, they didn't seem to have these problems when MPDs were allocated. I don't think Pulsars would be suitable as I think they would struggle to get round York Hill Estate in Spennymoor.

To be honest, Pulsars get round tighter spots than York Hill, I don't think they'd have a problem on the 8's at all. Bearing in mind before the X21 got announced, they were going to use EcoCity's on there! Personally I think they should bin the 8A off and just have the 8 up and down to Spennymoor, but the buses they use on there definitely need to be upgraded.

To be honest, Pulsars get round tighter spots than York Hill, I don't think they'd have a problem on the 8's at all. Bearing in mind before the X21 got announced, they were going to use EcoCity's on there! Personally I think they should bin the 8A off and just have the 8 up and down to Spennymoor, but the buses they use on there definitely need to be upgraded.

Yeah they'd be fine on the 8 its the 8A it would struggle but you could probably still get them round York Hill.

I agree with scrapping the 8A as I rode it from Ferryhill to Spennymoor the other week and it was carrying not many passengers and people in the Green Lane area let the 8A go past and waited for the Scarlet Band 110. Problem with scrapping the 8A is that the 8 can not get from Darlington to Spennymoor in an hour on the current route (I know it does on a Sunday but it can struggle to keep to the timetable on Sunday's so it probably has no chance of doing it in an hour on Monday to Saturday daytimes)

Well hopefully if blyth are getting solos then some of their 05 minibuses go to ashington because ashington are using just about anything lately.

Well hopefully if blyth are getting solos then some of their 05 minibuses go to ashington because ashington are using just about anything lately.

I haven't heard anything about Blyth getting Solos, from what I've heard Darlington depot are getting more Solos and will displace more 05/55 reg MPDS to Blyth depot.

2815 was sounding absolutely terrible on the 51 this afternoon.

Got 1750 on the 2 today, thought it was never going to make it up the hill out of Morpeth... 
Also when reversing out of the bus station, it looked like the driver was having a problem with the gears, we went forwards first and then looked like he was quite reluctant to give it another go, as if it hadn't gone into reverse we would have gone into the barriers.
Surely it cant have much longer left? 
(Side note- Those Seats!!!!)

Does anyone know what's happening with v515 dft and v513 dft and v501 dft are going to redcar

(02 Nov 2014, 11:10 am)Philly rf wrote Does anyone know what's happening with v515 dft and v513 dft and v501 dft are going to redcar

Yes 4501/13 are due to move to Redcar, unsure on 4515

To answer a couple of questions raised in the last few days...
Solos 2803/4/5/7/8 are due to move from Durham to Darlington, along with 2852-61
This was due to release Darts 1760/62/67/91/98 to move to Blyth, but obviously 1762 has since transferred to Durham for services 61/62. This may see another Dart move to Blyth instead?
Solos 2826/29/30/32/33/34/35 were due to move to Stockton, but 2834 has since moved to Jesmond so it may be replaced by 2836.

It's being a week since changes... how is the X21 doing?

It's being a week since changes... how is the X21 doing?

Nowt spectacular, most journeys I've seen have had only around 15 passengers. It is a shame, I know its the first week and I hope more people will know about the service and use it as I like having a direct bus to Sunderland without having to change in Peterlee or Durham and hopefully it won't end up being binned this time next year.

(02 Nov 2014, 12:20 pm)Jimmi wrote Nowt spectacular, most journeys I've seen have had only around 15 passengers. It is a shame, I know its the first week and I hope more people will know about the service and use it as I like having a direct bus to Sunderland without having to change in Peterlee or Durham and hopefully it won't end up being binned this time next year.

15 passengers isn't bad, hopefully the numbers go up over the next few weeks 

15 passengers isn't bad, hopefully the numbers go up over the next few weeks

I really hope they do, the X21 is a cracking service just 26 minutes to get from Peterlee to Sunderland and the EcoCitys are nice, but it is a shame they couldn't have bought another one with a bit more power like 4812/3/4 have.

(02 Nov 2014, 12:29 pm)Jimmi wrote I really hope they do, the X21 is a cracking service just 26 minutes to get from Peterlee to Sunderland and the EcoCitys are nice, but it is a shame they couldn't have bought another one with a bit more power like 4812/3/4 have.

I haven't rode them yet so can't comment if i like them or not  

Look at the X7 now... it started off slow now the numbers are really good.

I haven't rode them yet so can't comment if i like them or not

 Look at the X7 now... it started off slow now the numbers are really good.

I don't mind the EcoCitys, much more comfortable than the Solos previously used on the 21 especially if you get one of the ex demonstrators with the big high-backed seats I sat on 4812 for 1hour and 45minutes and I felt comfortable for the full journey between Newton Aycliffe and Sunderland.

Yeah the X7 was the same when it started but had a bit more than the X21 does plus GNE are better at advertising than Arriva, only saw timetables on the EcoCitys once and that was when an Arriva Angel took some out of the box and put them in the timetable slot, I imagine they were handing the rest out in Peterlee Bus Station again.

What's happening with 7453,7454,7455,7456. Are they going anywhere

(02 Nov 2014, 1:04 pm)Philly rf wrote What's happening with 7453,7454,7455,7456. Are they going anywhere

Yes they're off to Durham eventually, to help replace their T-FGN DAFs

I've been reading on other forums regarding the Sapphire 7 and soon to be Sapphire 6. Some say that the 7 is to receive E400's and Streetlite's and the 6 will use old 7 Pulsars and E400's or E400's, Pulsars AND Streetlites. That sounds confusing and does anyone have any clear information?

(02 Nov 2014, 9:04 pm)JoshP wrote I've been reading on other forums regarding the Sapphire 7 and soon to be Sapphire 6. Some say that the 7 is to receive E400's and Streetlite's and the 6 will use old 7 Pulsars and E400's or E400's, Pulsars AND Streetlites. That sounds confusing and does anyone have any clear information?

Indeed there are believed to be 5 Enviro 400s on order for service 7, with another 2 for the 6. The E400s for the 7 will displace 5 Pulsars to service 6, the remainder of which will be made up of new Streetlites.

(02 Nov 2014, 9:57 pm)tyresmoke wrote Indeed there are believed to be 5 Enviro 400s on order for service 7, with another 2 for the 6. The E400s for the 7 will displace 5 Pulsars to service 6, the remainder of which will be made up of new Streetlites.

Eh? How confusing.

Why can't they not refurbish the existing Pulsars on the 6. then by Streetshites for something like the 17 at Stockton. 

(02 Nov 2014, 10:06 pm)Tom wrote Eh? How confusing.

Why can't they not refurbish the existing Pulsars on the 6. then by Streetshites for something like the 17 at Stockton. 

I think it makes more sense to refurbish some of the Durham Pulsars so that the 6 is also E400 and Pulsar rather than purchase brand new Streetlites.

Also, I'm glad that Darlington is regaining Deckers afte the depot manager was so opposed to them. Darlington needs deckers on a few out of town routes at peak times 

Also, I'm glad that Darlington is regaining Deckers afte the depot manager was so opposed to them. Darlington needs deckers on a few out of town routes at peak times

Yeah, peak time journeys out of Darlington are horrendous and so is the 3rd journey to Framwellgate Moor on a morning.

(02 Nov 2014, 10:23 pm)Jimmi wrote Yeah, peak time journeys out of Darlington are horrendous and so is the 3rd journey to Framwellgate Moor on a morning.

The X1 needs deckers at College times and it can be said that the 1 and 5 could use some too. E400's should never have left in my opinion! On my recent journey's to Middlesbrough and back, there was barely any standing room left, so even thee X66 could push for a decker or two!

(02 Nov 2014, 10:42 pm)JoshP wrote The X1 needs deckers at College times and it can be said that the 1 and 5 could use some too. E400's should never have left in my opinion! On my recent journey's to Middlesbrough and back, there was barely any standing room left, so even thee X66 could push for a decker or two!

I've heard that the X1 can be bad at these times, I remember there used to be a duplicate journey on a morning that used an EcoCity, now there is a journey that starts at West Auckland on weekday mornings which follows the 6 route route between West Auckland and Tindle Crescent then the X1 route.

The 5/5A can be busy but I don't think it needs double deckers.

The X66 doesn't need double deckers I'd say, about the only time I've seen standing is if the one in front has broke down and occasionally on a hot summer morning just after 0930 when the free pass brigade can use the X66 for free.