Branching this out of the Stockton Depot thread where the orders are being discussed, but just a few comments on the vehicle allocations in Northumbria which are increasingly inappropriate. 

I was walking towards Barras Bridge tonight for my bus home and saw a few Arriva services leaving Haymarket. 

The 1610 308 was operated by 1495, and to be honest I don't think I've ever seen as many people standing on a Pulsar. The 15:45 and 16:00 308/306 also ran, so it isn't as though this was taking multiple loads. People were stood up to the seating right at the back, with a huge clump crowding the tip down seats up to the cab. 

The 1615 X22 was ran by 7563 and had pretty much a full load, with a couple standing downstairs, from what I could see. Looked to be a few seats free, but the loading it had would have been too much for a Pulsar I'd think. Again, the 16:00 X21 and 15:45 X22 ran. This run is booked for a Pulsar, and majority of times I have seen it operated by one has had a standing load. 

The Coast Road services at this time seem particularly susceptible to leaving Newcastle with full and standing Pulsars, yet nothing is being done about this. Similarly the main Ashington (X21/22) and Blyth (X10/11) express services are always standing loads if allocated a saloon. The Morpeth express services are always decker operated bar the X16 when I see them, and the X7/8/9 are always fully seated if a Pulsar but not standing. The X30 leaving town around this time, however, seems to always be a decker yet realistically a Solo could probably lift the amount of people using it. 

There have also been a few times recently where I've been waiting at Regent Centre at similar times and have been unable to board 43/44/45s due to them being Pulsar operated and bus full already. Even when they've dropped off there, the driver has evidently decided it's been unwise to take any more on. 

As much as I am sure lots of these services mentioned can cope with saloons during the day, they quite clearly cannot cope with them in the peaks. I do get that operating double deckers during the day on services with 20-30 people on is a bit of a waste, but then surely annoying your regular commuters by cramming them onto a Pulsar every night cannot help business long term?