(28 Jul 2014, 8:35 am)Dan wrote Likewise - as I mentioned before, I've experienced Volvo B10BLEs on the service with standees... Much better option for me would have been service 99, with MPDs transferring to Chester for service 71, releasing two or three Volvo B10BLEs to allow for the withdrawal of elder Volvo B10BLEs, but hey ho..!
Services 135/136 have always had the Solos on an evening/Sunday, so it doesn't come as too much of a surprise to me that this is going to continue. The contract for service 38C is only a Euro 4 stipulation, meaning that either the 8306-09 series Versas OR the 8319-29 series Versas can be allocated.
Go North East could repaint the vehicles into corporate livery, but at three years of age, it's unlikely. Repaints usually come every five years, but when necessary, they can be brought forward (usually only by a year, but there have been instances where vehicles have undergone repaint sooner than this too). Given that the paintshop is fully booked up for the summer holidays, I can't see the Solo SRs going in for repaint - if nothing else, it is something of a waste to repaint the buses so soon. It's not like the cost of a can of Dulux - it's a few thousand pounds we're talking about.
Which buses are currently in for a repaint?