(11 Mar 2016, 9:56 am)LeeCalder wrote 5232 has had its Tynedale Express vinyls removed

(11 Mar 2016, 9:56 am)LeeCalder wrote 5232 has had its Tynedale Express vinyls removed

(11 Mar 2016, 10:23 am)Malarkey wrote Pretty sure it has been involved in an RTA recently.

(11 Mar 2016, 11:37 am)GMitchelhill wrote Must have been very recent. Was the branding removed all the way around the vehicle or just one side.

Recent photos (nearly all at Eldon Square   ) shows no sign of any damage.

Only Hexham Solar that I noted with some damage the other week was 5229 with some large gouge marks on the nearside.

Saying that, it's possible they could be redesigining the brand to fit in with the Tynedale Links and AD122.

(11 Mar 2016, 9:56 am)LeeCalder wrote 5232 has had its Tynedale Express vinyls removed

(11 Mar 2016, 11:37 am)GMitchelhill wrote Must have been very recent. Was the branding removed all the way around the vehicle or just one side.

Recent photos (nearly all at Eldon Square   ) shows no sign of any damage.

Only Hexham Solar that I noted with some damage the other week was 5229 with some large gouge marks on the nearside.

Saying that, it's possible they could be redesigining the brand to fit in with the Tynedale Links and AD122.

(11 Mar 2016, 4:18 pm)DanPicken wrote As long as the brand doesn't change.

(11 Mar 2016, 11:37 am)GMitchelhill wrote Must have been very recent. Was the branding removed all the way around the vehicle or just one side.

Recent photos (nearly all at Eldon Square   ) shows no sign of any damage.

Only Hexham Solar that I noted with some damage the other week was 5229 with some large gouge marks on the nearside.

Saying that, it's possible they could be redesigining the brand to fit in with the Tynedale Links and AD122.

(11 Mar 2016, 4:33 pm)ŁMalarkey wrote Couple of photos below show 5232 only carrying "Sub Branding"





Furthermore 6040 has had its Pronto Branding removed, seen at Washington Depot this morning.

(11 Mar 2016, 11:37 am).GMitchelhill wrote Must have been very recent. Was the branding removed all the way around the vehicle or just one side.

Recent photos (nearly all at Eldon Square   ) shows no sign of any damage.

Only Hexham Solar that I noted with some damage the other week was 5229 with some large gouge marks on the nearside.

Saying that, it's possible they could be redesigining the brand to fit in with the Tynedale Links and AD122.

(11 Mar 2016, 4:33 pm)Malarkey wrote Couple of photos below show 5232 only carrying "Sub Branding"





Furthermore 6040 has had its Pronto Branding removed, seen at Washington Depot this morning.

(11 Mar 2016, 5:30 pm)thetravelman wrote I think it would be nice to see the Tynedale Express receive an upgrade of New/Newer buses sometime soon.


On the theme of Hexham services..... 

I know it was mentioned on here that a full size single decker is required for Tynedale Links service 688 - Hexham/Bellingham

Obviously Tynedale Links already had a full size single decker before this service was taken over from Tyne Valley, I believe it was used on the 688 - Hexham/Allenheads service quite regularly. 
What vehicle mainly operates the 688 service now and does this service not require full size single decker anyway? 
If so, should Hexham not have 2 full size Single deckers in Tynedale Links livery?

(11 Mar 2016, 5:30 pm)thetravelman wrote I think it would be nice to see the Tynedale Express receive an upgrade of New/Newer buses sometime soon.


On the theme of Hexham services..... 

I know it was mentioned on here that a full size single decker is required for Tynedale Links service 688 - Hexham/Bellingham

Obviously Tynedale Links already had a full size single decker before this service was taken over from Tyne Valley, I believe it was used on the 688 - Hexham/Allenheads service quite regularly. 
What vehicle mainly operates the 688 service now and does this service not require full size single decker anyway? 
If so, should Hexham not have 2 full size Single deckers in Tynedale Links livery?

(11 Mar 2016, 5:34 pm)Dan wrote Service 680 is now the service which the full-size single deck is allocated to. The 688 is now an MPD.

(11 Mar 2016, 6:03 pm)thetravelman wrote Thanks Dan.

Will this stay as an MPD when the new Solos come? 

Are the MPDs which are staying at Hexham, going to be used on a specific Tynedale Links Service eg: 688 or will the MPDs Just mix in with the Solos and both vehicle types together work any Tynedale Links services except obviously the 680 service.

(11 Mar 2016, 6:03 pm)thetravelman wrote Thanks Dan.

Will this stay as an MPD when the new Solos come? 

Are the MPDs which are staying at Hexham, going to be used on a specific Tynedale Links Service eg: 688 or will the MPDs Just mix in with the Solos and both vehicle types together work any Tynedale Links services except obviously the 680 service.

(11 Mar 2016, 6:25 pm)Dan wrote I'm not 100%, but I would imagine that it will stay the same.

One board on the 688 service runs onto scholars service 141, which requires seatbelts, so MPD 618 is allocated to this board at present. As this vehicle was refurbished specifically for this purpose, I cannot see this allocation being changed, but if 618 is VOR, one of the new Optare Solos will be allocated in its place, to fulfil the contractual requirement of seatbelts on the 141 service.

In my opinion; it would make sense to allocate three of the five new Solos to the boards on service 74, which interwork with service 686 and 687, as well as scholars 112, as these are the more 'long-distance' services which would benefit from improved reliability. One of these boards also runs onto service 688, so it would keep the seatbelt specification consistent on this service. I would then allocate one to services X81/681/185, as the new Optare Solos should be more reliable than the present MPD allocation, and another to service 682.

This would mean that an MPD would continue to be allocated to service 683, with two MPDs remaining as spares.

(11 Mar 2016, 4:33 pm)Malarkey wrote Couple of photos below show 5232 only carrying "Sub Branding"





Furthermore 6040 has had its Pronto Branding removed, seen at Washington Depot this morning.

(12 Mar 2016, 5:26 pm)JP6004 wrote Although probably not going to happen, would be nice to see the silver mercs at Deptford either go onto Tynedale Xpress with one replacing 5210 or transferred to Chester for the Waggonway