(12 Sep 2020, 10:01 am)Dan wrote Just to stop you needing to ask the question every other day, the StreetDecks on the X1 will remain on the X1. There's no reason to suggest that they will be incapable of running the route, and whilst they have a slower top speed on the Washington Highway (difference of 7mph against current Volvo B9), they are actually quicker off the mark than the existing Volvo B9, and will also likely do the uphill climb on the Washington Highway a bit better than the existing Volvo B9. There should be no need to replace them with more heavy-weight buses, nor any need to take Volvo B9s off the routes they're on at the moment. Initial feedback from driving team colleagues seems to be good.
It's very unlikely that bus operators up and down the country will be in a position to afford very many new buses at all. It will be a very long road to recovery once the government support package is revoked, and Go North East is certainly doing all it can now (given it has the opportunity to do so with all of the new buses coming in) to promote and market its services to get people back on board buses.
It will be interesting to see how the shortfall in top speed makes up for quicker acceleration and more power on the hills. Especially as the frequency has dropped.
This could have been a chance to improve the X1 beyond a new livery and on-board spec.
Faster journeys would have been a good start.
A new livery and on board spec is only part of making things 'better than ever', but pretty pointless if it is taking people longer to get to/from work.