(29 May 2021, 5:43 am)James_D wrote In answer to some of the questions here...  the Toon Tour duplicate will not have a running commentary provided by the conductor, instead passengers will be provided with a printed copy of the Toon Tour commentary to read though if they wish to do so.  The regular Toon Tour B7 will be running along side the RM providing wheelchair accommodation and the option for passengers to pay by contactless card.  

As for the B1, 8319 will be sitting at Gateshead to provide a wheelchair accessible vehicle should the need arise 

And of course this all complies with part F of the public service vehicle accessibility regulations 2000, UK statutory instrument No 1970, part II, regulation 4.  Allowing a non PSVAR compliant vehicle to be used on local bus services providing they are over 20 years old and for no more than 20 days per annum.  

A lot of work has gone into the planning of this weekend and we hope this provides a bit of excitement and fun after what has been a difficult time for all.

Thanks. It's something positive to do, no taking away from that, but I guess the feedback for future is to ensure accessibility requirements are not forgotten about. Legislation might allow for it, but if an alternative wasn't provided, then that doesn't mean an awful lot to a wheelchair user being left at the side of the road.

Customer Services provided a similar response this morning, all of which should have been on the website (but a good response, nonetheless): "the heritage bus on the Toon Tour is a duplicate which will run behind the normal Toon Tour bus, but the heritage bus on the B1 service will run by itself. If a passenger requiring low-floor access wishes to travel, we'll have the ordinary low-floor bus on standby."