The best vehicles for the X10 for me would be joint between Leyland Olympian - ECW and Volvo Olympian - N-C Palatine 2. Honestly if those Palatine 2s had DP seating, they would have pipped the Olympians.
The Volvo B7TLs were ok but age caught up to them quicker due to their smaller engine (similar can be said of B9TL and B5TL). As for the Spectras, they were good to except they were hindered by their gearing which was more intended for London routes which meant it took longer for them to get into their stride.
It's a difficult route to get the right vehicle for these days, and the closest GNE has got is one 6 Cylinder Streetdeck, though from travelling on the Enviro 400MMCs on the X84, they are a pretty good shout, probably why one was on loan to Riverside last month.
If the X9 is gone for good, and the X10 does parts of both route, they should renumber the service to X19 to highlight it that it runs up the A19 serving locations along said route.
But I wouldn't be suprised if the numbers of OAP / Disabled passes do pick up again with the introduction of the double deckers with the vehicles being 100% easier to board than the coaches. A lot of the time old people only want to use a coach for when they are going on their holidays or on a day trip. Not to go shopping with their shopping trolley.
RE: Enviro 400MMC's for the X9 and X10
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Who needs heroes anyway? Villians have more fun.
Who needs heroes anyway? Villians have more fun.