(23 Jan 2020, 7:32 pm)Jimmi wrote Oh so the 'goldmine' services are using 8 year old VDL Gemini's that were refurbished a few years back (308 ones even more recently) whereas the Durham County arm of Arriva North East has many Pulsars of a similar age and some now 11 years old that have never had any TLC besides a mop and bucket, think we know which part of the North East really gets the good end of the deal, so boo hoo...

Granted I will admit the interior could be a bit more inspiring, not a fan of that droplets of paint splattered on floor look and USBs would be nice but compared to other parts of the network, they ain't doing too badly.

I don't even think they get the mop and bucket down here!

On a similar subject I was thinking how tatty the Solos look on the 57 today, makes Scarlet Band look like a Sapphire service with their E200s.

(23 Jan 2020, 10:05 pm)deanmachine wrote On a similar subject I was thinking how tatty the Solos look on the 57 today, makes Scarlet Band look like a Sapphire service with their E200s.

Some of them have never been repainted and then there's the seats inside which have faded so much, annoys me how we can't seem to manage to re-trim them yet Yorkshire Tiger treated the ex North East Solos

(23 Jan 2020, 10:13 pm)Jimmi wrote Some of them have never been repainted and then there's the seats inside which have faded so much, annoys me how we can't seem to manage to re-trim them yet Yorkshire Tiger treated the ex North East Solos

They stink, as well.

The solos are in shocking state especially the few which are at Ashington they're literally falling apart and that's not even mentioning the MPD's which are even worse. Speaking of solos though does anyone know what the plan is with the ones at Jesmond when the new LEZ comes in as I can't see them being upgraded to Euro 6 and there's no minibuses which realistically could be either.

Whoever said about the interior of Arriva buses imo it's aged much better than both GNE and Stagecoach, the buses still feel modern imo. GNE's blue design just looks and feels tacky nowadays - blue really isn't in lately imo. (I know it's finally changed now) and Stagecoach's livery feels like something from the 90's / early 00's (which it is).

(24 Jan 2020, 12:47 am)Storx wrote The solos are in shocking state especially the few which are at Ashington they're literally falling apart and that's not even mentioning the MPD's which are even worse. Speaking of solos though does anyone know what the plan is with the ones at Jesmond when the new LEZ comes in as I can't see them being upgraded to Euro 6 and there's no minibuses which realistically could be either.

Whoever said about the interior of Arriva buses imo it's aged much better than both GNE and Stagecoach, the buses still feel modern imo. GNE's blue design just looks and feels tacky nowadays - blue really isn't in lately imo. (I know it's finally changed now) and Stagecoach's livery feels like something from the 90's / early 00's (which it is).

I personally prefer the shade of blue that GNE used on the leather seats compared to the one that Arriva uses. It seems to hide the dirt a lot easier, having said that it could be because Arriva never seem to wipe them down!
My personal favourite is the red and blue leather seats, although I prefer the leather they used to use, the one on the Angels is super slippery now but the 5 year old dark blue leather still feels new!

To be honest, I just really don't like Arriva's colour scheme, it's not as bad as Stagecoaches but it's not far off.
The vinyl flooring they used just looks tacky, they would have been better off using a plain flooring rather than one covered in Arriva logos!

Does anybody know why 7493 (Gemini) is at Durham depot?

Replacement for 7453

(26 Jan 2020, 1:50 pm)S830OFT wrote Replacement for 7453

Thanks, so is it staying at durham in that case?

2825 has just been featured on tonight's ITVs Vera Episode.

(26 Jan 2020, 8:17 pm)S830OFT wrote 2825 has just been featured on tonight's ITVs Vera Episode.

Didn't know you were a Vera fan. I will be watching it another day.

(26 Jan 2020, 8:17 pm)S830OFT wrote 2825 has just been featured on tonight's ITVs Vera Episode.

(26 Jan 2020, 8:41 pm)OrangeArrow49 wrote Didn't know you were a Vera fan. I will be watching it another day.

Excellent Sunday night telly is Vera!

(26 Jan 2020, 8:58 pm)citaro5284 wrote Excellent Sunday night telly is Vera!

Vera is one of the few good things to come out of ITV. The rest of what they make is absolute crap!

I saw one of the e200 frequenta 64 buses has had its frequenta stickers removed are they being rebranded?

(27 Jan 2020, 3:54 pm)OW1762 wrote I saw one of the e200 frequenta 64 buses has had its frequenta stickers removed  are they being rebranded?

1328 has had them removed for some time now as having 9 branded buses for a PVR of 8 was too many.
Understand, 1324-7 are due to lose their 64 branding for 49/49a branding soon-ish as part of a three way swap replacing 2822/3/38/9 for use on the 57/57a/58/43 boards and the Pulsars previously used on 57/57a onto 64s for increased capacity.

(27 Jan 2020, 4:01 pm)Kuyoyo wrote 1328 has had them removed for some time now as having 9 branded buses for a PVR of 8 was too many.
Understand, 1324-7 are due to lose their 64 branding for 49/49a branding soon-ish as part of a three way swap replacing 2822/3/38/9 for use on the 57/57a/58/43 boards and the Pulsars previously used on 57/57a onto 64s for increased capacity.

Think they already have lost the 64 part of the branding or at least some have, think it was 1325 I saw with 64 branding removed on Saturday (maybe more).

Details in the latest UEC Newsletter!

(26 Jan 2020, 9:43 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Vera is one of the few good things to come out of ITV. The rest of what they make is absolute crap!

https://www.facebook.com/arrivanortheast...6181466173

(27 Jan 2020, 4:01 pm)Kuyoyo wrote 1328 has had them removed for some time now as having 9 branded buses for a PVR of 8 was too many.
Understand, 1324-7 are due to lose their 64 branding for 49/49a branding soon-ish as part of a three way swap replacing 2822/3/38/9 for use on the 57/57a/58/43 boards and the Pulsars previously used on 57/57a onto 64s for increased capacity.

That would explain why I've been seeing so many pulsars on the 64 and also why the 64 branded e200 I was on tonight had 49 timetables! Thank you for the info. I presume that's so the solos can be retired from service?

(27 Jan 2020, 6:19 pm)OW1762 wrote That would explain why I've been seeing so many pulsars on the 64 and also why the 64 branded e200 I was on tonight had 49 timetables! Thank you for the info. I presume that's so the solos can be retired from service?

No, Solo's now allocated to 43/57/57A/58 boards.

(27 Jan 2020, 4:01 pm)Kuyoyo wrote 1328 has had them removed for some time now as having 9 branded buses for a PVR of 8 was too many.
Understand, 1324-7 are due to lose their 64 branding for 49/49a branding soon-ish as part of a three way swap replacing 2822/3/38/9 for use on the 57/57a/58/43 boards and the Pulsars previously used on 57/57a onto 64s for increased capacity.

Thank goodness for that.

(27 Jan 2020, 6:57 pm)Jimmi wrote No, Solo's now allocated to 43/57/57A/58 boards.

8 buses