Had a ride on either 3995/3996 (it operated an early out of Consett on the X71 on Monday (6:20 I think) and two things I noticed.
Internally the seats upstairs are in a right state, I'm very surprised it was allowed to go into service in the condition. With it being an Open Top bus I noticed it didn't have any internal poles and the bells were on the back of the seats (i hadn't seen this before)
I also noticed when it reversed out of Eldon Square it didn't make any noise to warn people, only the reverse light came on.
I'm a big lover of the Omnidekkas and the majority seem in decent condition, find them a lot faster than the rest of Stanleys Deckers. I think the seats being redone makes a massive difference visually, it has on the other ones that have been done.
I know they're old buses, but think they would look great internally if they had some sort of full refurb, especially the ones on front line services. I understand it may not be viable in the long run, spending money on them, but would be nice from a passenger point of view.