Arriva North East 7612- VDL Gemini (09:27 X11 Cramlington- Gosforth High Street)
Arriving on time for my first journey of the day was VDL Gemini 7612. I use these buses on a regular basis as they form the main allocation of the Blyth express services which are my local routes. Personally I dont mind these buses although as I have become more interested in the hobby and have tried out more vehicle types, I have begun to recognize some of their flaws in comparison to other buses I have tried. These are all limited to 50mph but some struggle to achieve that. Having said that I found this to be one of the better examples and my journey to Gosforth passed fairly quickly. Although, as you can probably tell from my username, I do prefer it when a Pulsar shows up rather than a Gemini on one of these express routes.
Stagecoach Newcastle 26066- Enviro 200 MMC (31 Gosforth High Street- Newcastle Central Station)
I only had a few minutes to wait in Gosforth before a new Enviro 200 MMC came. Not being familiar with the route, I decided to take it to the Central Station although I may try a longer route in future. This was my first experience of one of these buses and my first impressions were good. I like the modern, smart style particularly at the front and rear of the bus and thought it was much improved on the original Enviro 200. Inside I think the new Stagecoach corporate spec is a big improvement on the previous seating. On the outside these buses look small but this turns out not to be true as they can seat 41. I enjoyed the fairly short journey on 26066 and I couldn't help but think these buses would be Ideal for another route I use in Blyth which is the 2 from Blyth to Morpeth. The current solos on there are slightly small for the route and can often have standees. In my opinion the 5 solos could be moved onto the 1 replacing ageing darts and 5 new E200 MMC's bought for the 2. However I doubt Arriva will ever purchase new buses for the 2 sadly. Anyway after I left the bus at the Central station, I waited around for a while in the hope of a good photo opportunity but in the time I was there I only saw ALX 300's on the routes. Will try again when more MMC's enter service.
Go North East 9098- Enviro 400 City (12:20 21 Newcastle Eldon Square- Birtley)
After around 2 hours in Newcastle I decided I would head across to Eldon Square and as luck would have it 9099 and 9098 arrived not long after. 9099 left first on a short 21 to Chester- Le-Street and straight after was 9098 on a full journey to Durham. I had used both these buses previously, 9099 on the X1 between Newcastle and the Galleries last month and 9098 last week between Newcastle and Peterlee on the Tyne Tees Express. Due to its shorter stay in the fleet, I chose to have a journey on 9098 once again. Ofcourse the main noticeable thing about this bus is the interior specification which received many positive comments from passengers including many who were disappointed when the driver informed them that the bus was just on trial and had not been bought by Go North East. Although it may be over spec for the 21, I think this interior specification would attract customers to routes such as the X9/ X10. I sat upstairs on one of the single seats and was pleased to note that the USB charger was working fine, which cannot be said for many of the buses I have tried this feature on. The seats were much more comfortable than the Civic C3's that I am used to probably because they are taller giving a head rest. During both my trips on 9098 I have been impressed by the speed and power of the bus and I think it is more suited to the 21 than the hybrids although it may not be a long term option for the Tyne Tees Express. During my journey to Birtley I moved to the rear seats to see the domed glass which, along with the glazing on the stairs and in the roof gives the upstairs a bright feel. We overtook 9099 and it followed directly behind for most of the journey. A great photo opportunity had I not been sat on 9098! Although I did get this shot, from the rear window where you can just make out 9099 passing the angel.
![[Image: 30590738353]](https://www.flickr.com/photos/pulsartransport/30590738353/)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pulsartran...590738353/Go North East 6020- Volvo B7/ Plaxton President (21 Birtley- Newcastle)
I was thinking of catching 9099 on its return journey however due to time pressure I had to get the 1st 21 back from Birtley which was President 6020. I was fairly happy with this as I have been on many Volvo B5LH both on the 21 and Arriva examples on the 308 in Blyth. Of the few Plaxton President's I have used previously, I have noted a large difference in quality with some such as Washington's 6011 being slow and struggling on hills and others such as Chester-Le-Street's 6036 being slightly better. This one seemed alright, if a little slow, but it was not a bad journey and did rattle less than some of the hybrids do now. I have always been a fan of the President bodywork and hope some of these have a few more years in the fleet before they leave.
Arriva North East 7611- VDL Gemini (13:50 X11 Newcastle- Cramlington)
Another VDL Gemini on the way back to Cramlington, again this one seemed not too bad compared to some but as I use these regularly it was a pretty unremarkable journey. Disappointingly I just missed 7466 leave on the X10 from Haymarket. I believe this will be withdrawn soon (although I may be wrong about that) so it would have been nice to have a ride on that.
Overall
Overall I had an enjoyable day and was pleased I got another ride on 9098. I Hope Go North East do buy some of these (or MMC) for routes such as the 21 or the TEN when the time comes as I think they are a better option than the Wright Streetdeck. Next time I just hope to get some photos of the Enviro 200 MMC but other than that a good day!
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my first review.