(23 Mar 2016, 5:20 pm)Dan wrote palatine3833 has been misinformed.
The original tender was a four-year contract which commenced 27/05/2012 and was due to expire 21/05/2016, so the contract will expire as per the original end date specified in the contract.
Yes, an Optare Solo SR will be freed up as a result of the loss of this contract. I would expect it to be repainted red.
The contractual requirement is for a Euro 4 vehicle with a minimum capacity of 36. The current contract is for a Euro 5 vehicle of the same capacity.
As such, there'd technically be scope in service 516 being allocated a different vehicle, though I'm unsure if it will be at this stage. It's worth noting that the new contracts do not stipulate the use of a "Nexus" branded vehicle, which would give operators the option to repaint the buses into their own corporate livery, to operate these services.
The Solo should go to Percy Main for the spare role of 40/41/80, as they won't have one.