(18 Jun 2025, 4:05 pm)L469 YVK wrote The StreetDecks should be nowhere near the X10....backup should be Crusader or TVT B9TLs!
As I'e said before, I know GNE could re-shuffle the X30/X70 interworkings to reduce the low height PVR (basically allowing x8 StreetDeck and x8 E400MMC to be swapped giving Riverside flexibility) but I doubt GNE would trust them on some of the steep climbs around Derwentside!
Think only long term solution would be a solid batch of new UltroLiners or E400MMC for the X10 & X21 with x2 spares. Both routes carry good loads and if they rotated them around properly to spread the wear & tear out a bit like what Arriva do at Ashington, it would give GNE options to cascade them after 5 years...or possibly longer if the rotation helped.
Hopefully when/IF they do order replacements for the X10 they will not brand them so they can be rotated onto other routes without being instantly spotted, everything corporate like stagecoach do but make the saloons comfortable for the passengers/drivers, branding is more hassle than its worth