(19 Sep 2016, 8:21 pm)Kuyoyo wrote If this does all come to pass, I don't think we'll be seeing 7501-9 being used to compete with Stagecoach on the 52/53/54 cycle. For one, bit hard to brand them for 3 services which don't really have much common routing. Instead, I would think we'll be seeing the 43/44/45 going Sapphire. That's if new stock arrived for the X21/X22 of course.

Could Arriva not disperse of them nationally as spares for other divisions?

Also, if 12x were being ordered, could this not be a possibility for Arriva (not that I want it by the way, more of a prediction / wild guess than anything):

- X21 rerouted via Hartlands and increased to every 15 minutes becoming the core Ashington / Bedlington / Newcastle service with a PVR of 12x Enviro 400 MMCs with increased recovery and running time for reliability.

- X22 rerouted via Glebe Road and Nedderton running every 30 minutes with a PVR of 5x VDL Pulsars with 1x spare available (transferred from Darlington / Belmont).

- 5x 14 plate Enviro 400s transferred from Ashington to Darlington / Belmont to convert the 7 to fully double deck.

- 1x 14 plate remains at Ashington as spare with the other transferred to Darlington as spare. 7518 goes to Belmont as spare for 6/22/24/7.