(27 Jan 2026, 8:17 pm)Storx wrote Even known I get what you're saying just not sure it's really realistic right now to replace the whole fleet. Personally I'd have:

Ashington:
25x New E400MMC: X14/X15/X16/X18/X20/777
17 Plates + BOTW E400's: X21/X22
Worst E400's: 35
1574 - 1583 (Including 1579/80): 1/2
1602 - 1607: 57/57A

Blyth:
1499 - 1505: 553/X9
Electrics: 43/44/45
7616 - 7637: X7/X8/X10/X11
72 Plate E400MMC's: 306/308
4x E400: Spares

Out:
1512/1513: Durham (Swap for the 2 Streetlites)
57/58 E400's: Withdrawn
59 DB300's: Withdrawn
09/59/10 Pulsars: Withdrawn
61 Pulsars: Spread to whoever needs some / withdrawn

1602 - 1607 replaced at Darlington by the E400MMC's from Durham

I think I'd be going with something like the below, purely because the Streetlites are completely incapable of doing any of the express work in this part of the region but can handle the town work further south. Fully aligned on what needs to be baked bean tins by the end of the year though. 

Ashington: 

X18 (16 boards): 16x new E400s
X20/30 (6 boards): 7563-7568
X21/22 (15 boards): 7541-7552, 7569-7571
35 (5 boards): 7401-7405
1/2 (8 boards): 1512-1519 
57/A (5 boards): 1500-1504
434 (1 board): 3052
Spare (7): 1505, 3051, 7406, 7572-7575

Blyth:

X7/8/10/11 (18 boards): 7616/7/20-25/28-37
306/308 (14 boards): 9x new E400s, 7576/7, 7522/4/5
X9 (5 boards): 7529-33
553 (1 board): 1499
43/44/45 (14 boards): 14x BYD
Spare (6): 7526-8, 7553/4/6. 

Out: 
1574-83 (excl. 1579/80) to replace Pulsars in ADC - indirectly swapped for 1514-9.  
57/58-plate E400s - Withdrawn
59-plate DB300s - Withdrawn
09/59/10-plate Pulsars - Withdrawn
Functional (I'd honestly limit this to 1479 and the Blyth ones - the Ashington interurban ones are dogs) 61-plate Pulsars to ADC to replace any outstanding 09/59/10-plates. 

Then look to replace the 61-plate DB300s within the next couple of years, I'd think you could possibly replace the X7-11 allocation with electrics?