(16 May 2016, 10:03 pm)ifm001 wrote You know for certain that Shields doesn't need any full size single deckers do you?

Similar to most other local Stagecoach passengers we are fed up being crammed into E200s and would welcome larger buses with open arms.

Yes because I live in Shields myself.

The commercial decisions Stagecoach take, Shouldn't see anything longer than 10.8M on our local services for years to come. We could've kept hold of 39702-39714 as they are longer and have a bigger capacity, They could of replaced them with last years batch of E300s or 11.8M E200MMCs but they didn't, They replaced them with more integral E200s which are smaller and more compact than 397**s.

E300s are too Big Engine wise to have running a circular town service, That's why they gone with E200s, If DDA wasn't around then Stageocach would've had leeway to keep the MANs at Shields for another year and replace them with 11.8M E200MMCs, Though so many older MANs to replace Stagecoach had to rush a decision and of course took the cheapest and most viable option.