(14 Aug 2020, 9:07 pm)Storx wrote I really can't see any new deckers for a while personally. The minibus fleet is aging badly and will need replacing by 2022 and there's also the Omnicities, Citaros and early Versas all due or starting to be due by then. Realistically no deckers really need to be replaced before 2026 now which are in frontline work.

All of the Citaros, barring the 63 plates are expected to go by the end of the year. The fact that the Omnicities are getting Euro 6 upgrades still suggests they'll be sticking around quite a bit longer. 

I can't really see them replacing the minibuses any time soon, even the oldest one is only 11 years old. If they were, the only ones I could see them replacing are the older style Solos, and there's only a few of them

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(14 Aug 2020, 9:40 pm)Adtrainsam wrote I agree with Storx, apart from 11 E200 MMCs, we're getting 36 - 37 brand new double deckers, so after all of them are delivered, there's really no need for any more double deckers. I can see some more full size single deckers in the future, most likely Enviros for service 4 or even for X20 with 672 - 678 transferred back to Percy Main for Little Coasters routes.

Given the financial situation, I would prefer if some of the buses were just refurbished, similar to what they've just done to the Venture brand i.e new livery, cab door and cove panel information. It's badly needed on the Streetlites with those large and bare cove panels. It would really brighten them up and is much cheaper than buying new buses. Maybe some of the older Streetlites/ Versa's may recieve a full refurb with USB etc. but I really don't think GNE will be splashing the cash on new buses for a while now.

I personally think the large, bare cove panels on the Streetlites look 10x better than what the likes of Arriva have done with theirs. They're too large to put a full vinyl on, and look stupid with the small frames on. Better off leaving them blank IMO