(24 Jun 2014, 5:57 pm)Drifter60 wrote 6101 should be transferred to Riverside with 3963 going the other way to Percy Main, both are now red spares. The spare Geminis are often off route (as they are kind of intended I may add) so B7TL in 3963 isn't that much of an issue and with it not been the branded vehicle (if allocated to CC) people won't expect power sockets in any case. 6116 will now be branded Cobalt Clipper.
Obviously you could argue that in years to come CC/Fab56 may require the B9 spares but GNE need to be proactive in the reliability of TTX.
I was avoiding this kind of post (which is the reason why I didn't reply to Davey Bowyer's similar post earlier) because I'm not 100% certain on my answer to it.
That being said, as it's been thrown up again...
Each year in the months leading up to July, Go North East submit 'bids' (if you like) to Go-Ahead Group, in which they detail the services they'd like to receive funding for that they want to invest in in that financial year.
This bid, as far as I am aware, has to include the details of the how much profit is generated by the services for which they are to be allocated to, should the investment go ahead. This allows Go-Ahead Group to work out a payback time - how long it will take Go North East to generate the revenue from these vehicles in order to actually pay for them. Other details, such a resultant cascades, may also be included to convince Go-Ahead Group that the services which are being bidded for can justify the investment.
Volvo B9TLs 6101-17 were ordered for the Cobalt Clipper. The payback time would have been calculated on the basis that they will remain on the Cobalt Clipper for x amount of years, expecting to receive y amount of profit in the process. Because of this, it's unlikely that any of these vehicles will move to another depot and play a completely different role in the fleet. The payback time for a spare vehicle on the Cobalt Clipper to the payback time for a spare vehicle on the Tyne Tees Xpress will vary, and it's not what Go-Ahead Group agreed to.