(22 Jan 2026, 3:28 pm)Storx wrote 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.

The whole point of the new E400MMCs going to Whitby is to displace the now-aged B9TLs away from the highly demanding work they've been used on since new on the X93/X94 corridor (don't forget the X94 boards spend most of their day running between Whitby and Scarborough - the part with probably the most demanding of the hills along the corridor) plus given they are only 5 years younger than 7609/10, they'll soon be too old for the P&R contract in any case, hence the reason for 7594/5 being earmarked for that if Arriva retain it. I understand from a source within Arriva, the B9s may already have a new home lined up under the original plans.

I also have been told why the new E400MMCs for Ashington are intended to replace 7541-52 - those have smaller fuel tanks than the newer examples, which means they have issues when being used on certain Morpeth Express boards as a result (not due to the fuel tank but Stockton once had something similar happening when 1512 was based at the depot as the Sapphire spare - it almost always ended up on the same board, which happened to be the first bus out of the depot and the last bus into the depot, and was known to be running on fumes when it got back in).