(15 Sep 2025, 5:35 pm)L469 YVK wrote Well it's not going to be the 56.

Percy Main and to some extent Deptford's B9TLs have been well treated and as heavy duty vehicles with a lot of life left in them, they'll be extremely useful on the X5/X15, 16/16A, X45, 47 - displacing older E400 classics and ex-London/GAG or battered B9TLs previously ragged up and down the A19.

This would also sort the E400MMC issues out at Consett allowing all 16x to be kept for the X30s and X70s.

Likewise, the StreetDecks will offer good fuel savings over the B9TLs, especially on the 307 which just potters around the doors for the most part and the misc/planned 353/354/355/356 workings that the Cobalt deckers are known to do.

imo the 51/52/93/94 is still the best route for them. Extremely easy routes all pottering around the doors with the 56 B9TL's going to Consett instead.

The Streetdecks are a downgrade over the B9TL's on the 307/309 imo, in both performance and customer quality especially since the B9TL's have had a full refurb since the introduction of the Streetdeck's which haven't had a penny spent on them in the last 8 years and it's showing. It's just a downgrade in every way imo.