(03 Mar 2015, 11:05 am)Jimmi wrote I think the case is that the 45/46 seems to carry decent passenger numbers so it is worthy of an upgrade to brand new buses as the passenger numbers would justify the investment. The Omnicitys displaced off the 45/46 will go to improve the allocations on a another service to displace the buses from that service (the rumour is that the Omnicity's are going on the Toonlink services) which would improve the allocations on that service.
I never ridden the Red Kite services (apart from Newcastle - MetroCentre section) but if it is a route with hills the StreetLite's should handle the route fine if the StreetLite's are set up right for that route, Arriva's examples seem to manage the demanding 5/5A, X3/X4/4 on Teesside and East Cleveland and there is some fairy steep hills on these routes.
I though the Toon Link services were due for new buses. The Red Kite route does have some hills, but there are alos large sections of higher speed running, which would make the Citaros a better choice. Indeed the 45/46 are both busy routes, but would that not be a case for larger vehicles?