(04 Apr 2018, 9:41 pm)OrangeArrow49 wrote What is different about MAX, Sapphire etc and when did Arriva introduce these separate identities?

Not sure when Sapphire was introduced but MAX was summer 2014 with the first MAX route being the X10 and X11 Blyth - Newcastle.

Originally, Sapphire was e leather seats, NSA, wifi and plugs. MAX was just e leather seats and wifi.

Since then Sapphire and MAX have become almost identical with MAX now including USB sockets and Sapphire only having USB rather than 3 pin plugs. Basically the only difference is NSA's although there are exceptions ( MAX X1 streetlites have both NSA and 3 pin plugs.)

Its also worth noting that MAX has now been scrapped and eventually buses will be repainted to the new livery. There will be no more MAX routes but the standard spec now includes USB ports, e leather seats and wifi.