(01 Jul 2017, 5:36 pm)Adrian wrote Stagecoach North East: Latest News & Discussion - July 2017

Not sure if this is the right place to raise this, but I was wondering (as are others) whether Newcastle's Hybrids (12061-86) are prone to catching fire? Manchester's 12049 is the latest of a long line of hybrids caught on camera by the Manchester Evening News. It caught fire in Manchester city centre this morning. Another one of the same batch caught fire a few weeks ago near Sharston depot, and yet another one (12055) is still VOR after a fire. Someone on another forum has stated that during his time at Stagecoach Manchester, no less than 13 of the 10/60 regs caught fire, but only one newer one. However, I do recall '62 reg 12199 being off the road for a while following fire damage, and '13 reg 12214 is the only example to have actually been so seriously damaged it was written off. In saying tha, I think one of these two was an arson attack.

Of course, whatever the actual facts, it is working into the cycling lobby's campaign to ban buses from Manchester city centre, and various comments about how buses are the prime cause of pollution in a city served by numerous 25-30 year old diesel trains.