(23 Feb 2014, 9:12 pm)Davey Bowyer wrote Hang on then, if 6 B9TL Gemini 2's are going onto the X18, then that'll either mean the 20/X20 gets allocated them on a cascaded spare basis for the X18 when required or, they get transferred to Redcar for the X93, Blyth get their DB300'S back and Ashington will have 4 E400's for the X20.

I reckon the X20 will end up with 7453-6 Lowlanders but that's just my thinking. It all depends on what management decide on for the X93. The B7TLs at North West are hardly setting the world alight with their reliability (by the looks of the threads on here and other forums) therefore I reckon we will end up with DB300s on the X93 this summer.

The E400s from Whitby certainly have been well ruined during their time down there and I can't see them being much good for an intense service up at Ashington. therefore I think they may get stuck out of the way on the 34 and similar stuff. They might decide to allocate them to the 35 but they'll need plenty of spares...

Certainly it looks like Volvo B10BLEs will be moving south to oust the remaining DAF Prestiges, which is how Redcar will lose majority of theirs alongside Temsas being moved out. The Temsas are a one off specific batch with all the tags that comes along with that, getting spares etc. Indeed I understand one of our Cadets at Stockton and been off the road for a few weeks whilst they try to source a specific part that isn't manufactured any more.

There are 27 DAF SB220 vehicles still in use (some in a reserve capacity), with 24 of those needing to be replaced (7 at Redcar, 14 at Stockton and 3 at Jesmond).
On top of this you have 9 old MPDs (3 at Blyth, 3 at Stockton, 3 at Redcar) needing replacement. This takes us to 32.
The 3 high floor deckers (7367, 7482, 7483) gives us 35.

That leaves 25 more vehicles to be replaced. Your guess is as good as mine on those. I have a feeling the 6 T-FGN DB250s will be going this year, maybe the rest will be found by making a start on the older full size Darts?