One last review of 2015.
0805 7 Newton Aycliffe - Durham (ANE 7535)
A very sparsely loaded bus, only two people on it when I boarded and they were both sat downstairs, so of course I chose the front seat on the drivers side and I had the upstairs to myself for the remainder of the journey.
0910 X24 Durham - MetroCentre (ANE 7609)
Saw this enter Durham Bus Station at around 08:55 showing 'Taking It to the MAX' on the screen and was hoping it was making an unusual appearance on a service, sadly it was operating the X24 which disappointed me, was hoping for a 57 reg Lowlander. Pretty average journey really. Of course, the WiFi was broken!
1127 100 MetroCentre - Newcastle (SNE 22413)
After doing a bit shopping (no one's intrested in hearing more about that!) and a bit bus/rail spotting, I jumped on this to Newcastle. This felt pretty slow, it has to be said. After what felt like forever, we arrived in Newcastle.
1230 X20 Newcastle - Ashington (ANE 7470)
Got this up to Ashington in the hope of finding a MAX Volvo B7TL. Sat at the front upstairs as it was free. Fairly nice bus, although this journey was pretty uneventful. Annoyingly as we were about to head past Sports Direct MAX 7412 appeared on the 35 to Morpeth which of course left before the X20 got into the bus station, so I ended up waiting around 40 minutes for it to return.
1410 X22 Regent Centre - Newcastle (ANE 7501)
As I got the X21 back to Newcastle last time I was in Ashington, I'd thought that I'd get the X22 back today. For a premium quality bus, this didn't sparkle so much, WiFi not working being my main irritation and rattles from the front although nowhere near as bad as the last 57 reg Enviro 400 I rode. I decided to bail at Regent Centre as I became a bit bored with this bus.
1502 X14 Regent Centre - Newcastle (ANE 4659)
This was the first thing to turn up after 7501 left, so I went with it. Must say, this one felt like it had more power than the examples at Darlington do, although it did smell a bit like burning.
1535 X21 Newcastle - Chester-le-Street (GNE 6038)
Pretty standard journey on this, looked rather scruffy inside although at least this has a bit more power than the Pronto branded examples. Decided to alight at Chester-le-Street as I spied 5336 on the 36, so I decided to get a photo.
1612 21 Chester-le-Street - Durham (GNE 6062)
Pretty steady away journey back to Durham, although I had major difficulties connecting to the WiFi (stupid phone!).
1637 7 Durham - Newton Aycliffe (ANE 7534)
Much like my journey on 7535 this morning, it was very quiet and once again I was the only passenger sat upstairs. Didn't bother attempting to connect to the WiFi because I couldn't be bothered with the hassle.
I would like to thank everyone for reading my reviews throughout 2015, hopefully I will vist some new intresting places in 2016, perhaps I may have some outings with other enthusiasts or at least spot some of you whilst out and about, we'll just have to wait and see how things play out.
Happy New Year!
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