(11 Oct 2022, 11:06 am)tcts24 wrote From what I'm told, a decker was planned but nobody had one to spare for Hartlepool. 39664 wasn't too bad either. 39662 should have been the one to go. As for 34605, last I was there (I've been off since the middle of last week with Coronavirus) it'd had an engine put back in it.  But I'm not a particular fan of 605 as it feels like there's no retarder, plus it's rather prone to jamming in first gear.

as for the shortage of double decks a while ago i know cumbria had some ALX400s going. could have been just the thing for contract and special Events like the tall ships. everyone seemed to go mental at the suggestion. i do think say for example if SNE acquired 20 2014 registered E400s either standard or MMCs which i think only manchester has all 20 could easily be used for expansion of capacity before replacing any of the older double deckers.

i think 10 each at slatyford and Sunderland you could easily get rid of 15 E200s across the division and maybe 2 ALX300s. with some of the ALX300s kept as spares to backfill for when you have events like the metro blockade, sporting events and tall ships etc.