(02 Oct 2022, 11:11 am)Unber43 wrote Wonder what particular buses GNE Drivers don't like.

Just thinking of Deptford I know the X20/65 were particularly bad for breaking down especially the latter.

Pretty much all the ones at Deptford (note the amount of times I say 'apparently' here; I have no first hand experience of driving a GNE bus). Apparently StreetLites in general (not just GNE examples which actually appear to be in much better condition than Arriva's) are not pleasant to drive; noisy and heavy steering (and have a fancy for breaking down it seems), some of the Ciaros are falling apart (I was on one last week and the front panel that houses the clock and interior mirror was just about holding on - the clock was working though), and on some of the Versas, the turning circle is apparently horrific. One of them did say the Yutong's are nice to drive though. Probably because they're new.

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(02 Oct 2022, 10:49 am)cbma06 wrote Arriva Durham got new buses after stagecoach Sunderland got there new gas buses. I wonder how much government funding there got for the gas buses for the first batch, as the second batch was the leftovers of what was left in the pot.

Compare those StreetLites (which I think is what you refer to) to the gas buses though. From nearly new the SLs have felt like they were tied together with string. I'm not going to sit here and say the gas buses are perfect - they aren't and some definitely show their age, and let's be honest a lot of the rest of the fleet is a bit meh at best, however from my own experience and speaking to others, SC Sunderland has a better fleet than GNE Deptford and Arriva Durham, even if GNE and Arriva have higher spec buses.