(22 Jul 2025, 10:34 pm)logidoodah wrote The "catch 22" that they themselves created in order to reduce milage and drivers required. Don't get me wrong but I think it was one of the "temporary" measures back in 2022/23?
This is not an allocations thread but I will just say (again) that Plaxton Panther LEs are the way forward -->
Whilst having (I think) 69 seats or something similar they could be trialled on the 60 mins freq but would enable the route to be popular and not squashed like sardines with people sitting on the stairs along the long stretches of A19.
A bonus is they fit in Eldon Sq and perfectly merge the bus/coach aspects together as in the ease of travel and comfort for long distances. This would be a good upgrade to 30 mins from this point as it would make people want to travel in style but with bus accessibility.
I really don't see why not...
The Panther LE can only seat 53 passengers. Even with bringing the X9 back, could be risky if both routes end up at full capacity and need deckers. Double deck coaches would be too much of a step up in terms of cost and logistics.
The B8L EvoSeti (same engine as the Panther LE) would be the best of both worlds and would have useful service life after the X10.