(15 Feb 2026, 7:25 pm)PH - BQA wrote I think you're likely blowing the whole 'microfleet' issue slightly out of proportion. B9TLs are hardly a rare bus type in the UK, so there will be plenty of spare parts available unlike the Temsa Avenues, for example. 

Even your point about them being Volvo deckers specifically - surely the only relevance to the decker part of that is the bodywork, which is a Wright Gemini and once again they're hardly rare? Just as an aside, there absolutely will be other Volvo deckers outside of these 6 in the Arriva fleet beyond the end of this year - London have roughly 400 B5LHs.

Totally forgot about London tbh, god knows how.

Still though, still it's a bit of a headache having a microfleet of a random bus. I'd assume that the engineering departments have a ready lot of spare parts of E400's etc but won't have anything for a B9, as it doesn't make sense, so it's just time to get the parts in etc. Be much easier for Ashington to have a depot that's full of only ADL vehicles and a few Streetlite's which is probably where it's going to be in a few years time anyway realistically. Heck even later this year possibly depending what happens with the E200MMC's. 

Like if they were work horses, I'd get it, but they couldn't be any further away and they're not exactly new anymore.