(22 Jan 2026, 2:18 pm)L469 YVK wrote This is going to sound daft and Arriva would still need suitable Euro 6 spare deckers for the majority of Ashington's work.
But if they do a PVR of 6 on the 35 with a padded 20 minute frequency and sufficient running / recovery time, would 7401-06 not suffice for a few years with some TLC, just staying on the 35?
Wouldn't make much sense imo as the 35 would be useful for junk like 7530 instead which are just as bad - if not worse.
I don't know what the plan with Whitby is but personally I'd be moving out the 72 Plate E400MMC's and 2 16 Plate E400MMC's if they end up on the P&R out, not the B9TL's.
Once the new buses come:
2x B9TL - P&R
6x New E400MMC's - All Year Round X93/X94
4x B9TL - Summer Extras X93/X94 / Spares
Is more than enough buses down there and the same they've had for years, having 72 Plates running around on a P&R or doing nothing is a complete waste - believe the Summer frequency is 8 buses if I remember right.
Ashington, in particular, would really benefit from having the 72 Plates back.