Perhaps you should try and find out by complaining about how old the buses are on a certain service eg. 31 (Toonlink) in the hope whoever is manning the Facebook says that the route will receive investment.

I imagine the Toonlink will receive some investment this year as the Renown's aren't DDA compliant along with the Lime examples. I'd imagine most of the routes GNE will invest in this year will be single decker routes as the Renown's have to be withdrawn by the end of the year with them not being DDA compliant.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

(17 Feb 2015, 11:30 am)aureolin wrote I might sound a bit negative, but what the hell.

Is it just me who couldn't care less what buses they're getting? They'll arrive when they arrive, and we'll have a good 15 year to see, ride or photograph them.

I am just waiting, so the whole 'lightweight' versus 'heavyweight' and 'this model' versus 'that model' debate can start.
Maybe even seeing a debate about, dual doors, engine size and the suitability of Centrelink for deckers debate thrown in too - just for good measure.

(17 Feb 2015, 11:31 am)Michael wrote Only route i care about is the Lime 8... lol

Keep forgetting to bring it up, but noticed on a few Nexus liners, that in the operator section for the 78, it is down as 'Go North East. Lime 78'. Whereas the brand for the 4, isn't listed at the same stops.

(17 Feb 2015, 2:48 pm)Andreos1 wrote I am just waiting, so the whole 'lightweight' versus 'heavyweight' and 'this model' versus 'that model' debate can start.
Maybe even seeing a debate about, dual doors, engine size and the suitability of Centrelink for deckers debate thrown in too - just for good measure.
Keep forgetting to bring it up, but noticed on a few Nexus liners, that in the operator section for the 78, it is down as 'Go North East. Lime 78'. Whereas the brand for the 4, isn't listed at the same stops.

I'm not sure if the buses for the X66 will have duel doors... Citaro might be able to confirm?.. if not, i understand.


The NEXUS liners are always wrong, some have the 2/2A down as Silver Arrows.

(17 Feb 2015, 2:50 pm)Michael wrote I'm not sure if the buses for the X66 will have duel doors... Citaro might be able to confirm?.. if not, i understand.

The NEXUS liners are always wrong, some have the 2/2A down as Silver Arrows.

Even Go North East's website still has the 2/2A down as being branded "Silver Arrows"... I wouldn't expect Nexus (and associated contractors) to get it right if Go North East isn't updating their website properly...

(17 Feb 2015, 2:56 pm)Dan wrote Even Go North East's website still has the 2/2A down as being branded "Silver Arrows"... I wouldn't expect Nexus (and associated contractors) to get it right if Go North East isn't updating their website properly...

Still?

I thought NEXUS was bad! 

(17 Feb 2015, 2:50 pm)Michael wrote I'm not sure if the buses for the X66 will have duel doors... Citaro might be able to confirm?.. if not, i understand.





The NEXUS liners are always wrong, some have the 2/2A down as Silver Arrows.

I doubt the X66 will have duel doors especially if it gets single deckers as there would be less seats and the X66 can get very busy especially on a weekend.

(17 Feb 2015, 2:58 pm)Jimmi wrote I doubt the X66 will have duel doors especially if it gets single deckers as there would be less seats and the X66 can get very busy especially on a weekend.

That's true, least then Gateshead can finally have an extra stand!  

(17 Feb 2015, 2:50 pm)Michael wrote I'm not sure if the buses for the X66 will have duel doors... Citaro might be able to confirm?.. if not, i understand.


The NEXUS liners are always wrong, some have the 2/2A down as Silver Arrows.

To be honest, I had never thought about the dual doors until seeing the ex-Oxford Renown on yesterda

The X66 I had been on yesterday was a bog standard GNE model, with the one door - but then you have the set up at Gateshead and potentially an entire bus inc standees queuing to get off via the one door.

(17 Feb 2015, 3:01 pm)Andreos1 wrote To be honest, I had never thought about the dual doors until seeing the ex-Oxford Renown on yesterda

The X66 I had been on yesterday was a bog standard GNE model, with the one door - but then you have the set up at Gateshead and potentially an entire bus inc standees queuing to get off via the one door.

Yeah this is the problem, do they go for additional capacity or do they go for duel doors which means faster unloading times.

(17 Feb 2015, 3:06 pm)Jimmi wrote Yeah this is the problem, do they go for additional capacity or do they go for duel doors which means faster unloading times.

But less seats to...

Is the only currently in production is the Mirco-hybrid version? Is there a longer version to this?

Unless its getting bendies again (Just jking or i'm i?)  

(17 Feb 2015, 3:06 pm)Jimmi wrote Yeah this is the problem, do they go for additional capacity or do they go for duel doors which means faster unloading times.

Thought duel doors would mean they would end up fighting? .

Seriously though, if you compare them to London vehicles - seating capacity is low, but they have the added bonus of being able to accommodate plenty of standees.

It got me thinking about the setup on the European trams to be honest and whether the centre doors could be used to get on/off and the smartcards being used to tap in/out.
The only difference being, that those with cash/paper tickets could use the front door.

Whether punters would take advantage of it and how things could be monitored, I don't know.

(17 Feb 2015, 3:10 pm)Michael wrote But less seats to...



Is the only currently in production is the Mirco-hybrid version? Is there a longer version to this?



Unless its getting bendies again (Just jking or i'm i?)  

I'm not sure if there is anything bigger in production that isn't an arctic (I may be wrong).

If the X66 gets StreetLite's hopefully it will have the same seating layout as the Drifter examples which have 45 seats.

The only other things they could do is increase the frequency or get double deckers but double deckers are too tall for the Centrelink.

(17 Feb 2015, 3:15 pm)Jimmi wrote I'm not sure if there is anything bigger in production that isn't an arctic (I may be wrong).

If the X66 gets StreetLite's hopefully it will have the same seating layout as the Drifter examples which have 45 seats.

The only other things they could do is increase the frequency or get double deckers but double deckers are too tall for the Centrelink.

Ye, its a shame, double decker's can't use the centrelink.

 

(17 Feb 2015, 3:14 pm)Andreos1 wrote Thought duel doors would mean they would end up fighting? .

Seriously though, if you compare them to London vehicles - seating capacity is low, but they have the added bonus of being able to accommodate plenty of standees.

It got me thinking about the setup on the European trams to be honest and whether the centre doors could be used to get on/off and the smartcards being used to tap in/out.
The only difference being, that those with cash/paper tickets could use the front door.

Whether punters would take advantage of it and how things could be monitored, I don't know.

Not sure on London style bus set ups as I have never rode any buses in London.

The smartcards' thing for centre doors could maybe work, perhaps you could police it by having someone standing at the centre doors in Gateshead Interchange and MetroCentre Bus Station and people quickly show their pass (eg. Key or Concession pass) to the person then place it on a scanner and any cash fares go to the front doors. Not sure if this would work though and will probably never happen.

(17 Feb 2015, 3:22 pm)Jimmi wrote Not sure on London style bus set ups as I have never rode any buses in London.

The smartcards' thing for centre doors could maybe work, perhaps you could police it by having someone standing at the centre doors in Gateshead Interchange and MetroCentre Bus Station and people quickly show their pass (eg. Key or Concession pass) to the person then place it on a scanner and any cash fares go to the front doors. Not sure if this would work though and will probably never happen.

Similar to the metro when the barriers are down?

Maybe if they went down the route of the Wright Streetcar, it could have worked - but that would have been before the smartcard technology was implemented.

It works well on the continent and has apparently cut down on free travel. People seem to check in and out on the cards in places like Amsterdam, rather than back in the day when not many people seemed to bother.
Loading times are good too.

In London, the deckers are set up like the GNE Vykings and Presidents and the single deckers are the same, just without the stairs.

Go North East's reply to someone asking why the bendies aren't on the X66,

Go North East Hi - We have removed these vehicles to increase the reliability of the service

What a load of bollocks!

(17 Feb 2015, 4:48 pm)Tommy_1581 wrote Go North East's reply to someone asking why the bendies aren't on the X66,

Go North East Hi - We have removed these vehicles to increase the reliability of the service

What a load of bollocks!

It technically is true...

The articulated Mercedes Citaros were notorious for poor reliability. Thankfully, whenever they did breakdown, it was either in the depot or at a terminus point. Brighton & Hove were in no rush to purchase them - it was Go North East who wanted rid of them.

Remember that the Nexus QCS model doesn't permit the use of double door vehicles, unless it's specifically required for a route. I don't think any company would risk purchasing such vehicles at this stage, in case they end up having to offload them on the cheap.

(17 Feb 2015, 6:14 pm)aureolin wrote Remember that the Nexus QCS model doesn't permit the use of double door vehicles, unless it's specifically required for a route. I don't think any company would risk purchasing such vehicles at this stage, in case they end up having to offload them on the cheap.

Forgot about that!

Was there any additional detail, apart from euro spec?

(17 Feb 2015, 6:14 pm)aureolin wrote Remember that the Nexus QCS model doesn't permit the use of double door vehicles, unless it's specifically required for a route. I don't think any company would risk purchasing such vehicles at this stage, in case they end up having to offload them on the cheap.

(17 Feb 2015, 6:44 pm)Andreos1 wrote Forgot about that!

Was there any additional detail, apart from euro spec?

Yes, I'd say that the Quality Contracts Scheme will have quite a big impact on the decision-making when planning investment. Could you justify spending £100,000 on a car if you knew you were going to lose your job and would be on Jobseekers Allowance? The answer is probably not.

I think the same will apply for the bus operators too. As you can all well imagine, if the scheme does go ahead, then it's likely that the bus operators in the region will wish to retain as much work as possible. Sadly, none of the region's bus operators have a full fleet of vehicles to 'Euro 5' status, meaning that operators will be forced to give up work or bring their fleet up to the required standard. This can be achieved by direct investment or by Eminox modifications - both have their own associated costs, though the latter costs a lot less. Go North East has already SCRT-fitted four batches of Scania L94s to bring them up to 'Euro 5' status: "Loop" and "Highwayman" were the initial batch, and "Prince Bishops" and "Fast Cats" followed. It is actually possible to modify all of the vehicles in Go North East's fleet to bring them up to 'Euro 5' status - even the Volvo B10BLEs. If it makes commercial sense to retain the Volvo B10BLEs at the end of this year, they can be modified so that they are DDA-compliant. The significance of the cost of this job varies by vehicle, but generally speaking, the easier to convert a vehicle to become DDA-compliant, the cheaper.

If Go North East cannot justify spending x amount of money to fund the cost of new vehicles under a Quality Contracts Scheme, then modifying older buses will be the way forward...

(17 Feb 2015, 6:44 pm)Andreos1 wrote Forgot about that!

Was there any additional detail, apart from euro spec?

Yes - quite a bit. See here.

(17 Feb 2015, 6:47 pm)aureolin wrote Yes - quite a bit. See here.

9 Wright Deckers with Merc Engines on order plus Streetlites coming for the lime 

(20 Feb 2015, 7:45 pm)pdiddy wrote 9 Wright Deckers with Merc Engines on order plus Streetlites coming for the lime 

Can I just point out that very few Go North East employees are in a position to confirm the company's orders for this financial year. Whether the above statement is true or not, I'd just like to clarify that it is speculation and not confirmation.

(20 Feb 2015, 7:45 pm)pdiddy wrote 9 Wright Deckers with Merc Engines on order plus Streetlites coming for the lime 

For a start, Citaro5284 said that all orders will have cummins engines so i reckon at least half of this post is not true.

(20 Feb 2015, 7:54 pm)Robert wrote For a start, Citaro5284 said that all orders will have cummins engines so i reckon at least half of this post is not true.

Are any made in Scotland?

(20 Feb 2015, 8:22 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Are any made in Scotland?

Nah, Ireland 

(20 Feb 2015, 8:38 pm)citaro5284 wrote Nah, Ireland 

Well if that is true, then that as well as all vehicles having Cummins engines brings suggests that it's Streetlites

(20 Feb 2015, 8:54 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Well if that is true, then that as well as all vehicles having Cummins engines brings suggests that it's Streetlites

Could be Enviro 200s.

(20 Feb 2015, 9:16 pm)Malarkey wrote Could be Enviro 200s.

Are they built in Ireland 

(20 Feb 2015, 8:54 pm)DaveyBowyer wrote Well if that is true, then that as well as all vehicles having Cummins engines brings suggests that it's Streetlites

I know you're not keen, and I usually agree with you that heavy-weight vehicles are far superior, but I had a chance to ride on the Streetlites down on Teesside today and the one I had on the 4 out of Whitby managed the steep banks really well indeed. They've just got to be set up correctly, is all. In ten years time, a Mercedes Citaro would be doing far better off than a Streetlite, I'd imagine, but never mind.

(20 Feb 2015, 9:16 pm)Malarkey wrote Could be Enviro 200s.

Ireland - not Scotland!