(12 Mar 2016, 10:30 pm)thetravelman wrote Nice photos of buses in Hexham - G-CPTN,
I noticed in the row of 3 MPD's that there was a Volvo B7TL/East Lancs Vyking hiding behind them.
I know it was mentioned that these vehicles may see more use on the TEN group of services and I do notice them on a regular basis, but in reality how often are they used? Does this not downgrade the service a bit?
What is the reason for their regular allocation, I presume that there are not enough TEN branded Volvo B9TL Gemini's to go round?
Mind you I do quite like these buses, and I think they look smarter now that some of them have been repainted and branded in GNE corporate livery.
I don't get chance to use buses very often, however I did travel on a Vyking for the Sunderland Airshow last year and I must say that it was very smart and well kept inside. However when we left the Airshow we got on a Red Arrows - Volvo B9TL Gemini 2, this in comparison was quite shabby and seemed quite well worn.
They shouldn't really be used at all.
The preferred 'alternative' vehicle type, in the event that a branded Volvo B9TL (or red Volvo B9TL 6084) is unavailable, is the four red Volvo B7TLs with Wright Eclipse Gemini bodywork, as these have high-backed seating and perform better than the ex-London double-decks.
I do agree that the East Lancs Vyking bodied Volvo B7TLs are in very good condition internally, though I suppose this is down to the fact the majority are only used for an hour on a morning and then an hour on an afternoon.
(13 Mar 2016, 12:36 am)northern156 wrote Would this be the case though? The TEN B9s, from what I would presume, don't get much rest either. When a 10 arrives at Hexham it forms the next one back out to Newcastle, and vice versa (ok, maybe a bit of layover at Eldon Square but I wouldn't say it's massive).
With the TEN route being more high-speed than the 21 (open roads at 50-60mph as opposed to a lot of residential 30-40mph roads) there would be more miles covered against the time they're running; equalling in a high mileage. Of course the point about the very late night running does still stand.
Just another unrelated question - do driver changes still regularly take place at Blaydon?
I believe the majority of the Hybrids have just recently passed the 200,000 miles milestone, and the "TEN" branded Volvo B9s are about 30,000 miles ahead of them.
Willing to stand corrected, but the only driver changeovers which occur at Blaydon are those associated with services 12/12A. The changeovers on service 10 occur at Hexham and Metrocentre, and the changeovers on services 11/96 occur at Metrocentre.