(Yesterday, 8:10 pm)Storx wrote Aye that's what I heard, with 13 to Blyth - assuming on paper for the 306/308.
But surely if Ashington are getting 12, then the 12 17 Plate E400MMC's leave then they're kinda in the same boat, since the E400's are the real problem and I can't see them getting better any time soon. They're desperate to be chucked onto some easy pottering around some estates somewhere but there's realistically nothing in the North East like that.
It's a shame the 17 Plates are leaving tbh but I get things in Yorkshire are dire aswell.
Agreed that 12 in to replace the 12 17-plates makes no sense, it doesn’t address the true issue of the absolutely dire single deck fleet. It also provides no additional decker capacity, which they’re screaming out for - just look at the amount of peak X18s recently which have been allocated a single decker as evidence of that.
The only way to fix it is to keep those 12 17-plates (which, as you say, not only aren’t the problem but are some of the most reliable buses they have) in addition to 12 new vehicles. That allows you to withdraw all of the Pulsars bar the 5 needed for the 57/A.
And I was told on here that the new local management knew what they were doing…