(09 Feb 2013, 2:05 pm)Brandon wrote Thanks for posting those photos too by Peter! I remember that diversion well. GNE had some major service changes (especially Black Cats/Doxford Clipper) in October 2009 right in the middle of the diversion period so must have been rather confusing to passengers at the time!

I seem to remember the Stagecoach cross-city routes 3/4/13/16 actually taking quicker to reach the other side of the City Centre via Burdon Road instead of the usually traffic-crammed Holmeside/Vine Place! I think it would have been much better as a permanent diversion - then keep Holmeside east-bound traffic only with wider pavements!

This notice was on GNE's home page at the time -

Sunderland City Centre Closures
A number of road or lane closures will affect bus operation in Central Sunderland from Sunday 27th September 2009. This is due to urgent gas main renewal and may last for up to 3 months.

I think the works were confined to Holmeside (west-bound only).

The most recent photo I can find on Flickr of 22067 is by Chris White in August 2012 - so it could have been any time after that really when it got fitted with an LED blind.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriswhites...427446446/

South Shields swapped some of the LEDs out of the B10BLEs with flip dots out of the MANs - some of which are now at Slatyford as swaps for their E400s. Talking of which, 19197 is currently undergoing refurb which should see its seats recovered in leather and repainted (wonder if X34 will get a new brand or not?).