(29 Jan 2024, 1:48 pm)Dan wrote If Go North East had won the contract, they were prepared to have two buses modified to meet contract specification from day one of the service being operational.

But if they hadn’t, the comments on this forum would have been far worse than the comments Umber43 has made against Arriva.

I hope three buses are planned to be repainted/branded and not just one bus (1512), as the rumour mill suggests.


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(Sorry Dan - not directly in response to your post, but had to quote something sensible generally due to the volume of comments)

Only based on what is being said on this forum, are people jumping around suggesting Arriva have 'breached contract'. Nobody except Arriva and NCC know what the contract says and I doubt NCC would permit this service to continue if indeed, luggage racks are required as part of the agreement.

What I understand is that Arriva won the contract with a 'non-conforming' bid, which is essentially an alternative proposal that is provided by the supplier for consideration. This option could have clearly negated the requirements for luggage racks or bespoke livery and offset that by provided value for money by linking to the X16 instead (i.e. one bus additional cost vs two bus additional cost).

Of course, Northumberland could have chosen a fully compliant option, but this suggests even they arent bothered about the lack of luggage racks as a key part of this arrangement.