(06 Feb 2021, 12:42 am)toward6931 wrote yeah that's why I thought if SNE managed to acquire 14-24 newer decker's they could cascade some 2007/2008 buses to other areas, for arguments sake if SNE acquired 30 hybrids from Manchester that's still 75 new buses that can oust older buses plus whatever SNE decide to cascade.Whenever Covid ends I could see Newcastle getting some new buses to see of some early E400s, although there is no reason why they can't be upgraded to Euro 6.
if it wasn't for the CAZ that's incoming I would happily wait for a normal cycle of cascades and new buses coming in. from my estimation there's a good 30 odd double deck that need to be cascaded from Newcastle to be CAZ compliant, plus how many extra single decks and midi buses.
if other operations aren't having to operate under such stringent standards surely it would make sense to get SNE in a good position to avoid wasting money on paying tolls when other areas have vehicles that would be suitable. don't get me wrong I would love to see a brand new batch of 40 plus double decks and 40 plus single decks but I'm not naive enough to wish for that.
according to the article stagecoach has 750 buses in greater manchester, 144 of which are hybrids.
24 of them hybrids cascaded to north east is not a huge drop in the ocean when there is 105 electric buses to supplement them
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.54)]105 electric double decker buses for Manchester (sustainable-bus.com)
[/color][color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.54)]Stagecoach bosses offer to roll out 105 electric buses across Greater Manchester - Manchester Evening News[/color]
I think the whole keeping hybrid buses and buying electric buses for Manchester is to stick it to the franchising proposals. Although even if the proposals weren't about, then there would only be a small chance of Newcastle getting some Manchester hybrids