1415, 1441 and 1443 are heading to Ashington mainly to keep services running, not just for repaint cover (though they’ll also stand in for the Blyth vehicles due to be repainted by the end of the year). Ashington’s in a bit of a mess right now with engineering problems, so managers from other depots are stepping in to help get things back on track.

To make this possible, Redcar are moving 1372, 1376 and 1378 over to Stockton, since they’ve got buses to spare and Stockton sending those three.

In November, service changes should release another nine vehicles from Stockton and Redcar. There are also rumours that 7609 and 7610 will be withdrawn around that time, with Whitby Park & Ride set to get two of the 16-plate E400 MMCs, cascaded from the Durham EV shuffle.