But the ultimate question with the 47 is how many of these 'packed to the rafters' runs are late by more than 5 minutes? If these runs are running to time, then fair enough. And don't forget that this week and next week is the school holidays so there's bound to be more passengers travelling outside of the usual 'peak' periods and this coupled with a tight turnaround / timetable (more the former) could well be causing the need for deckers on the 47.
The deckers are no good if they're not being utilised on the busiest runs between 0700-0900 and 1600-1800 and that doesn't include any usual fully seated 45 / 46 with 1 or 2 standees. GNE will need to decide at somepoint whether or not to bite the bullet and go fully double deck or order 4x Streetlites. As long as buses are keeping to time, then the need for deckers should be at a minimum for these routes.
RE: Go North East: Upcoming Service Changes