(Yesterday, 2:50 pm)Storx wrote Yeah it was bar the two Yutong orders. There's been nothing at all otherwise.
I wouldn't say the B9's are midlife personally though. More nearing end of life, the Angel Streetdecks are more midlife really.
There's tonnes of buses nearing replacement though. Like these 'new' E400's are pretty much end of the life and they're no-where near the oldest buses in the fleet either. Singles are alright age wise generally but the Decker's are a mess and they're not on schools either.
It'll be interesting to see what GoAhead do tbh as the North East isn't the only place with aging deckers and the London displacements won't be around forever since the hybrids are useless.
Still doesn't help that GNE's most capable modern deckers (E400MMC) aren't being used on the X10 & X21 (GNE's longest services) whilst they're p*****g more money up the wall on remote reliefs in Stanley, complete opposite to the last management who in their credit at the time had a good interworking pattern.
There's also the business risk to consider too:
Current situation risks & benefits on the X10 / X21 and Derwentside:
- Poor timekeeping & breakdowns = underpowered vehicles or lack of suitable spares.
- Lack of passenger confidence = passengers might look at alternative forms of transport.
- High recovery costs = long distances to M.Boro and W.Auckland.
- Risk of competition = Arriva depots in Durham & Teesside as well as Stagecoach in Teesside....the latter also having bases in Newcastle, South Tyneside and Sunderland to assist operations where needed.
- Lower vehicle lifespans = not being used on suitable work which could cause problems down the line when cascading to 'easier' routes.
- No mutual operator acceptance on unique parts of X10 & X21 not on shared corridors with other GNE roures.
- Maximum flexibility at Derwentside despite having inefficient interworking patterns.
- Inefficiencies = Several remote reliefs in Stanley and inefficient interworking patterns & driving hours.
- Overlapping buses Sunniside to Newcastle (X31 / X70) within a minute of each other.
If GNE made Derwentside changes allowing E400MMC allocation on X10 & X21:
- Further scope to improve services if suitable contingency & spares can be sourced (i.e X9 re-introduction).
- Improved Stanley to Gateshead links. Stanley to Whickham would still have the X30 hourly and 6 half-hourly. Stanley to Dunston link did not exist in express form until 2015 due to merger of X30 and 98.
- Improved timekeeping and fewer breakdowns = improved passenger confidence and better fleet utilisation with all E400MMC's (bar 4x remaining at Consett for X30/X71 and 2x low height spares) getting mixed use on X10 & X21, spreading demands.
- Reduced risk of competition = better security & reputation of company and less risk of loss of income.
- Improved vehicle lifespans = Mixed use of E400MMC on X10 & X21. StreetDeck and B5TL whilst not perfect should handle Derwentside work okay(ish) considering StreetLites were previously used on 45/46/47.
- Improved support for breakdowns on StreetDecks & B5TL = many shared corridors on Derwentside routes (45/47 and 10/10A/10B), X70/X71, X70/X73, X30/X32, X30/X32/X70/X71). Depots in close vicinity for support (Riverside & Consett).
- Reduction in vehicle standard on X20 to allow B5TLs to move to Consett = short term issue but could be resolved with some non-leggy Cobalt & Coast B9TLs if current Angel StreetDecks end up on 307 & 309.
- Cleaner headway Sunniside to Newcastle.
- Slightly slower journey times on X70 = passengers still grateful for restored service and X71 & X73 available on some parts of the X70 if an issue.
- More efficient and still reliable interworking pattens on Derwentside (all falling within 4hr or 4hr30m cycles) and all Mon - Sat reliefs do-able in Consett.