+- North East Buses (https://northeastbuses.co.uk)
+-- Forum: Local Bus Scene (https://northeastbuses.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?fid=1)
+--- Forum: Arriva North East (https://northeastbuses.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?fid=56)
+--- Thread: 2026 New Vehicles (/showthread.php?tid=4711)
RE: 2026 New Vehicles - Arriva7446 - 03 May 2026
Can't arriva introduce 1 or 2 and then can be used for driver training so all drivers are ready for the full roll out. They must have some chargers as they are charging their Enviro 400 EV so they could charge one BYD when the E400 is out in service.
RE: 2026 New Vehicles - 220631612 - 03 May 2026
(Yesterday, 3:46 pm)Adrian wrote I really can't understand why they'd order the buses before they have a connection offer and agreed timescales from Northern Powergrid? Isn't it a bit like building a house before having the planning permission.
Issue is the powergrid will agree to a timeline and then push it back themselves due to constraints on their staffing. And it’s not too dissimilar from Delaine ordering vehicles and having them sit around for up to 11 months before putting them on the road.
(Yesterday, 10:43 am)tyresmoke wrote Same reason East Yorkshire’s are all in storage because they can’t get theirs connected yet either. It’s a nationwide issue!East Yorkshire’s is also down to the fact that they don’t fit into stands at Paragon too. Stagecoach Hull facing similar issues
RE: 2026 New Vehicles - Shrek - 03 May 2026
(Yesterday, 3:46 pm)Adrian wrote I really can't understand why they'd order the buses before they have a connection offer and agreed timescales from Northern Powergrid? Isn't it a bit like building a house before having the planning permission.
Down to the way the funding worked, plus I believe the original plan was that the work at the depot would be completed well before now, but as others have posted there are issues nationally and that has pushed back the installation time.
RE: 2026 New Vehicles - Busadvocate - 03 May 2026
(Yesterday, 3:46 pm)Adrian wrote I really can't understand why they'd order the buses before they have a connection offer and agreed timescales from Northern Powergrid? Isn't it a bit like building a house before having the planning permission.
All (or almost all?) of the various new electric buses are part-funded by grant from the government, aren't they? I suspect that comes with conditions requiring that the funds are claimed by a specified date, which is why the buses get ordered to meet that deadline. Although optimistic things will have gone into the bids for funding, from the outset all the parties involved - operators, transport authorities, DfT - probably knew that sorting out the electricity supply was a risk and might well not be possible by the hoped-for date due to reasons outside anyone's control.
But it does seem a bit surpising that Arriva's Belmont depot is not within scope of a heavyweight electricity supply, as in former times it was the site of a big manufacturing plant. Maybe in the intervening years the electricity network capacity has been taken up by new housing estates and new offices, etc.
Privatising the public utilties and running themfor profit maybe was not such a good idea ... (Northern Powergrid is owned by Berkshire Hathaway - a huge US conglomerate.)
RE: 2026 New Vehicles - Adrian - 03 May 2026
(Yesterday, 5:36 pm)220631612 wrote Issue is the powergrid will agree to a timeline and then push it back themselves due to constraints on their staffing. And it’s not too dissimilar from Delaine ordering vehicles and having them sit around for up to 11 months before putting them on the road.
I don't doubt that others are having issues, and I'm aware of the constraints on the grid, but I think my point remains. It's an asset that is sat there not generating any revenue, which I can't see any party involved in the financing being happy about.
My post wasn't with the intention of attacking anyone for the delays, but it's not an ideal situation for anyone.
(Yesterday, 5:41 pm)Shrek wrote Down to the way the funding worked, plus I believe the original plan was that the work at the depot would be completed well before now, but as others have posted there are issues nationally and that has pushed back the installation time.
You're correct. Admittedly, I had to go back and review the info on the funding, but it did require orders to be submitted by 31 Jan 2025: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-zero-emission-bus-funding-zebra-2/apply-for-zero-emission-bus-funding-zebra-2
Given they needed to submit a comprehensive project plan, it seems a bit counter-intuitive to then insist on a bus order by a fixed date, when your funding is open to applications for buses only, buses + infra, infra only. It'd be more practical to have a date on project commencement, which would have (sensibly!) allowed for the project timescales to move in line with the infrastructure being in progress first.