(25 Aug 2022, 9:40 am)tcts24 wrote Newer doesn't neccessarily mean better. Obviously it may vary depending on who you ask, but if i was to name the crappest few buses at Hartlepool starting with the worst- 36467, 36464, 36462. Of course I'm coming from a drivers view rather than engineering, but in my opinion some of the newest buses are the most problematic in service.

In terms of cuts... I can't see any coming for the 1. Especially the long 1's as it would leave the Clarences without a bus, barring 1 journey a day on Stockton's 58A. The short 1's are actually set to improve with the reintroduction of an evening bus! Route 3 could theorectally be chopped north of ASDA where they aren't especially busy. 6 and 7 would be the most obvious target for a frequency reduction. Hartlepool is of course to gain an extra bus for it's forthcoming County Durham school contract meaning an extra spare on weekends at least!

Ideally what I would do is this. Like I said move remaining Darts to Hartlepool with some of the better Newcastle/ Stockton Alexander 300.That sees off some more enviros. Make the 1 and 36 joint operated between Hartlepool and Stockton. You could even extend the 37 into the town with both running 30 minutes ( hourly on Sundays and Evenings) which provides a service to North Tees from the town with no one losing out. As for the rest. 

1/1A.
1 continues as now to Middlesbrough but extended hourly to Parkway Centre replacing service 10 via James Cook Hospital. Can save about 5 minutes by not doing the tour of Seaton so Warrior Park section axed. Later journeys to continue to Middlesbrough. Service will end around 8PM to allow for Hospital visiting times at both Hartlepool and James Cook. 


1A Short Journey to Seaton only will be re numbered 1A and will run though Warrior Park to terminate at Bus Station. 

1B running as hourly evening service to Throston Grange via 1A route.  

3/3A. No change but all services terminate at Owton Manor Hourly evening  and Sunday daytime  service inter working with 7. Will no longer serve Bishop Cuthbert. Instead could look at diverting 57/57A though there. 

6  All services run to South Fens where it inter works with 7. Evening and Sunday services remain half hourly between Clavering and South Fens but will be stand alone.  

7 Week day and Saturday Continue as now but extended to South Fens. One Sunday service an hour Will interwork with service 3.  

20/980 since they contract services obviously continue as normal.  


 How it would work is this. 

 Service 1 will split equally between both depots. This would save both at least 1 bus and 1 driver each while once again connecting Hartlepool with James cook hospital. Nobody loses out either if successful could then go up to half hourly.  I think this would need a pvr of 4 - 6 so is manageable. 

1A would use pvr of 2 and operated by Hartlepool alone it would be possible to interwork with 3/3A at Throston Grange.   

3/3A like now would need about 3 buses but if interworking with 1A would probably save a bus.  

6 No reduction 

7 No reduction if both went stand alone though that might save a bus or two. 

36 /37 Two from each depot could interwork at either Hartlepool or Middlesbrough.

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(25 Aug 2022, 9:40 am)tcts24 wrote Newer doesn't neccessarily mean better. Obviously it may vary depending on who you ask, but if i was to name the crappest few buses at Hartlepool starting with the worst- 36467, 36464, 36462. Of course I'm coming from a drivers view rather than engineering, but in my opinion some of the newest buses are the most problematic in service.

In terms of cuts... I can't see any coming for the 1. Especially the long 1's as it would leave the Clarences without a bus, barring 1 journey a day on Stockton's 58A. The short 1's are actually set to improve with the reintroduction of an evening bus! Route 3 could theorectally be chopped north of ASDA where they aren't especially busy. 6 and 7 would be the most obvious target for a frequency reduction. Hartlepool is of course to gain an extra bus for it's forthcoming County Durham school contract meaning an extra spare on weekends at least!

Just to add as well in situations like today when a 7 was running late and went out of service that happens if you reduce it to 15 minutes then the headland is left without a bus for 30 minutes and then you potentially got quite a full bus from Headland to town Centre so you unless you bring another service back like the 12 then it’s not going to be any good same situation will be happening at Rossmere as well it could end up full before leaving Rossmere Way so all of this would have to be considered.

Class idea you should defk somehow get in touch with whoever manages all this this would be perfect!!!!

Nothing new is coming in the short term, predictions aren't going to do a lot with Perth. However, a substantial number of good condition Darts are suddenly available from Stagecoach South.

(30 Sep 2022, 11:32 am)54APhotography wrote Nothing new is coming in the short term, predictions aren't going to do a lot with Perth. However, a substantial number of good condition Darts are suddenly available from Stagecoach South.

As long as they are better than the ones from Yorkshire then in the short term could be split between Hartlepool and Stockton.  Hartlepool for 3/3A and some 6/7 journeys and Stockton for 34 35  57 58 59/61 services.

(30 Sep 2022, 12:21 pm)col87 wrote As long as they are better than the ones from Yorkshire then in the short term could be split between Hartlepool and Stockton.  Hartlepool for 3/3A and some 6/7 journeys and Stockton for 34 35  57 58 59/61 services.

Darts would more than likely be MAN E200 replacements - so Hartlepool, Sunderland and South Shields would be their destinations.

Honestly wouldn't mind more darts if they're in good condition. Had a drive of 34611 before it went to Hartlepool and it was lovely considering its age.

With the MAN E200s, I sort of like them in a strange way even though they're absolute heaps.

As I mentioned earlier, I think the long term plan is for the 39000s (and possibly the ADL E200s*) at Sunderland to be replaced with more gas buses (obv shorter than the current ones).

*This would release them to Shields and Hartlepool who I believe have much smaller fleets of 39000s

The MAN's may be a headache for engineering but there's an increasing amount of drivers prefering to drive them over the ADL's because of all the issues they develop in service on top of half of them often running in limp mode. My personal favoutite to drive is 39667 which looks like I'll be getting as my first bus, followed by 36093, which isn't too bad for one of those now they've sorted the problem with the brakes jamming.

(03 Oct 2022, 10:03 am)tcts24 wrote The MAN's may be a headache for engineering but there's an increasing amount of drivers prefering to drive them over the ADL's because of all the issues they develop in service on top of half of them often running in limp mode. My personal favoutite to drive is 39667 which looks like I'll be getting as my first bus, followed by 36093, which isn't too bad for one of those now they've sorted the problem with the brakes jamming.

Although technically Hartlepool should have at least one large bus ( if not a decker ) for the UTC contract instead of 36093 been used for it. I actually think taking 39666 off was a mistake when they plenty of worse buses in the fleet it’s a shame 34605 is unlikely to ever return to service as well as I actually like the early dart SLF.

(09 Oct 2022, 12:49 am)col87 wrote Although technically Hartlepool should have at least one large bus ( if not a decker ) for the UTC contract instead of 36093 been used for it. I actually think taking 39666 off was a mistake when they plenty of worse buses in the fleet it’s a shame 34605 is unlikely to ever return to service as well as I actually like the early dart SLF.

From what I'm told, a decker was planned but nobody had one to spare for Hartlepool. 39664 wasn't too bad either. 39662 should have been the one to go. As for 34605, last I was there (I've been off since the middle of last week with Coronavirus) it'd had an engine put back in it.  But I'm not a particular fan of 605 as it feels like there's no retarder, plus it's rather prone to jamming in first gear.

(11 Oct 2022, 11:06 am)tcts24 wrote From what I'm told, a decker was planned but nobody had one to spare for Hartlepool. 39664 wasn't too bad either. 39662 should have been the one to go. As for 34605, last I was there (I've been off since the middle of last week with Coronavirus) it'd had an engine put back in it.  But I'm not a particular fan of 605 as it feels like there's no retarder, plus it's rather prone to jamming in first gear.

as for the shortage of double decks a while ago i know cumbria had some ALX400s going. could have been just the thing for contract and special Events like the tall ships. everyone seemed to go mental at the suggestion. i do think say for example if SNE acquired 20 2014 registered E400s either standard or MMCs which i think only manchester has all 20 could easily be used for expansion of capacity before replacing any of the older double deckers.

i think 10 each at slatyford and Sunderland you could easily get rid of 15 E200s across the division and maybe 2 ALX300s. with some of the ALX300s kept as spares to backfill for when you have events like the metro blockade, sporting events and tall ships etc.

(11 Oct 2022, 6:11 pm)toward6931 wrote as for the shortage of double decks a while ago i know cumbria had some ALX400s going. could have been just the thing for contract and special Events like the tall ships. everyone seemed to go mental at the suggestion. i do think say for example if SNE acquired 20 2014 registered E400s either standard or MMCs which i think only manchester has all 20 could easily be used for expansion of capacity before replacing any of the older double deckers.

i think 10 each at slatyford and Sunderland you could easily get rid of 15 E200s across the division and maybe 2 ALX300s. with some of the ALX300s kept as spares to backfill for when you have events like the metro blockade, sporting events and tall ships etc.

The problem is certain routes still specific E200s from Slatyford so you can reduce them but not get rid of them.

(12 Oct 2022, 9:43 am)Coastliner700 wrote The problem is certain routes still specific E200s from Slatyford so you can reduce them but not get rid of them.

yes i have said before probably only 4-5 each from slatyford/Sunderland and the remainder from hartlepool

things were looking tight in Newcastle today. when passing slatyford depot I noticed no less than 6 double Deckers not in service, 2 in the front yard, 2 in engineering and 2 in the back yard. i spotted 24112 and 24113 both rammed covering 62 duties and a 200 MMC covering a 63 duty also rammed. now COVID is on rise again i think it's getting likely that some people would stop using public transport if there is another serious wave.

if i was incharge of the old fleet management at SNE i would order the following for 2023:

15 short wheelbase MMCs to replace MANviros ,3 allocated to walkergate for the 317, 7 to slatyford and 5 to Sunderland, all ousted vehicles to go to hartlepool to replace the bulk of dodgy vehicles.

15 standard wheelbase MMCs, all 15 to go to slatyford, 1st batch of 5 replacing E200s again cascading to hartlepool and the next 10 to cascade the eldest non-CAZ vehicles to Stockton. once there i would remove 1 ALX300 and1 GEN1 E300 for parts retrieval and the 8 eldest ALX300s go to hartlepool. once at hartlepool given their age i would use 2 as spares and remove a further 6 MANviros from service.

finally, I would get a batch of 25 400MMCs again as a one off put all 25 in service at slatyford. the first 5 vehicles in service cascade the oldest Deckers to Stockton, keeping one vehicle as a spare this allows potentially 4 ALX300s to removed from service. the next 10 to cascade the next oldest DD vehicles to Sunderland allowing a further 5 E200s and 4E300s to cascade around the division replacing worn out vehicles. and finally the last 10 to cascade 9 single decks around.

all in all for an investment of 55 new vehicles that would theoretically allow for around 25-30 of the worst midibuses to removed from service and used for spares. around 20-25 ALX300s or some of the GEN1 E300s to be used for spares and the oldest DD400 vehicles used for less demanding routes with some spare capacity for Special events

(13 Oct 2022, 5:55 pm)toward6931 wrote things were looking tight in Newcastle today. when passing slatyford depot I noticed no less than 6 double Deckers not in service, 2 in the front yard, 2 in engineering and 2 in the back yard. i spotted 24112 and 24113 both rammed covering 62 duties and a 200 MMC covering a 63 duty also rammed. now COVID is on rise again i think it's getting likely that some people would stop using public transport if there is another serious wave.

if i was incharge of the old fleet management at SNE i would order the following for 2023:

15 short wheelbase MMCs to replace MANviros ,3 allocated to walkergate for the 317, 7 to slatyford and 5 to Sunderland, all ousted vehicles to go to hartlepool to replace the bulk of dodgy vehicles.

15 standard wheelbase MMCs, all 15 to go to slatyford, 1st batch of 5 replacing E200s again cascading to hartlepool and the next 10 to cascade the eldest non-CAZ vehicles to Stockton. once there i would remove 1 ALX300 and1 GEN1 E300 for parts retrieval and the 8 eldest ALX300s go to hartlepool. once at hartlepool given their age i would use 2 as spares and remove a further 6 MANviros from service.

finally, I would get a batch of 25 400MMCs again as a one off put all 25 in service at slatyford. the first 5 vehicles in service cascade the oldest Deckers to Stockton, keeping one vehicle as a spare this allows potentially 4 ALX300s to removed from service. the next 10 to cascade the next oldest DD vehicles to Sunderland allowing a further 5 E200s and 4E300s to cascade around the division replacing worn out vehicles. and finally the last 10 to cascade 9 single decks around.

all in all for an investment of 55 new vehicles that would theoretically allow for around 25-30 of the worst midibuses to removed from service and used for spares. around 20-25 ALX300s or some of the GEN1 E300s to be used for spares and the oldest DD400 vehicles used for less demanding routes with some spare capacity for Special events

What about Shields.  Plenty old Dart SLF and MANviros there also still.

(13 Oct 2022, 10:11 pm)ifm001 wrote What about Shields.  Plenty old Dart SLF and MANviros there also still.

that's what i would do for 2023, haven't thought about after that yet. apart from age I'm hearing the darts aren't doing too bad

I might be repeating myself but I would do this.

All remaining darts to Hartlepool with some Manviro and ADL going to South Shields. This should in theory help to standardise the fleet at both depots.

30 E400 MMC. 25 for Newcastle 5 for Stockton. Some of the 58 59 plates could then go elsewhere or be used as spares. If any are not needed then they could move to Sunderland for the E and X24 X34.
5 at Stockton mainly for the 36. some of the Man 300 could then be sent to Hartlepool.

20 Enviro 200 MMC
10 For Hartlepool 10 For Newcastle.
This would see off the remaining Manviro at Hartlepool although some of the better ones could be sent to Stockton in a reserve fleet for both depots to use if and when needed. Any of the remaining none enviro MMC at Newcastle to be sent to South Shields.


Depots
Newcastle both depots. Enviro 400 Enviro 400 MMC, Enviro 200 MMC

South Shields Manviro 200 Some man 300 ADL Enviro 200

Sunderland Enviro 400, Enviro 300 (gas buses) Enviro 200.

Hartlepool Manviro 200 ( Reserve) Enviro 200 MMC. Dart SLF. Man 300

Stockton. Enviro 400 Enviro 400 MMC Man 300 Manviro 200 ( Reserve and spare ) Enviro 300 ( all types ) Enviro 200 MMC.

When are stagecoach north east order go to happen then?

(14 Oct 2022, 12:44 am)glen wrote When are  stagecoach north east order go to happen  then?

There'll be nothing until at least the 31st Jan 2023 at least otherwise they wouldn't have to move everything around for the CAZ in Newcastle as there's an exception if you have an order in place which will replace those vehicles.

Thanks for info mate

Seen a post earlier on Twitter stating that Stagecoach North East are getting some Yutong E10's, i'm doubtful of this given there no confirmed plans for the charging infrastructure to be built plus they trialled the E12 in 2018 and not looked at them since although Stagecoach Midlands do have a few E10's for the National Grid Contract that they operate.

Stagecoach do seem to be moving away from Alexander Dennis as they have been purchasing Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora's for Stagecoach Highland ops and also have some Volvo 7900E's at Stagecoach Western.

(22 Oct 2022, 1:17 pm)Malarkey wrote Seen a post earlier on Twitter stating that Stagecoach North East are getting some Yutong E10's, i'm doubtful of this given there no confirmed plans for the charging infrastructure to be built plus they trialled the E12 in 2018 and not looked at them since although Stagecoach Midlands do have a few E10's for the National Grid Contract that they operate.

Stagecoach do seem to be moving away from Alexander Dennis as they have been purchasing Volvo B8RLE MCV Evora's for Stagecoach Highland ops and also have some Volvo 7900E's at Stagecoach Western.

i think the yutongs are for perth

(22 Oct 2022, 1:47 pm)toward6931 wrote i think the yutongs are for perth

Nothing confirmed yet I don't believe but there's also electric buses on order for Inverness which are midibuses which is what a E10 is, maybe someone has got North East and North Scotland mixed up.

They are apparently at Southampton Docks awaiting collection from Pelican before delivery to Stagecoach, looking at the Stagecoach East Scotland/Highland Fleetlist they could be replacing Enviro 200's that are a mix of 60/63/14 & 64 Plate as there nothing else I could see them displacing.

(22 Oct 2022, 7:12 pm)Malarkey wrote They are apparently at Southampton Docks awaiting collection from Pelican before delivery to Stagecoach, looking at the Stagecoach East Scotland/Highland Fleetlist they could be replacing Enviro 200's that are a mix of 60/63/14 & 64 Plate as there nothing else I could see them displacing.

There's 25 of them coming for the 1 - 9. Assuming it'll displace the 7 Solo's and 18 Enviro 200's. They won them in the ScotZEB, which is the same as the ZEBRA here in Scotland.

https://www.electrive.com/2022/08/25/sta...inverness/

(22 Oct 2022, 10:20 pm)Storx wrote There's 25 of them coming for the 1 - 9. Assuming it'll displace the 7 Solo's and 18 Enviro 200's. They won them in the ScotZEB, which is the same as the ZEBRA here in Scotland.

https://www.electrive.com/2022/08/25/sta...inverness/

There was 1 EV Double Decker also mentioned within that article for Perth with further EV's on order for Aberdeen, Ayr, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Kilmarnock via ScotZEB. Depending on what Kilmarnock get pretty much all of there services will be EV operated with the exception of there Coach Services, either way it'll be EV's for the 4, 10, 11 & 50.

Wouldn't mind some of the Scania E300's down here in North East.

(22 Oct 2022, 11:10 pm)Malarkey wrote There was 1 EV Double Decker also mentioned within that article for Perth with further EV's on order for Aberdeen, Ayr, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Kilmarnock via ScotZEB. Depending on what Kilmarnock get pretty much all of there services will be EV operated with the exception of there Coach Services, either way it'll be EV's for the 4, 10, 11 & 50.

Wouldn't mind some of the Scania E300's down here in North East.

Aye it seems that they're trying to pretty much make the whole Scottish fleet electric well the routes in the cities anyway. 

No doubt a headline grabbing thing since they don't really have many city routes and most their Scottish network is rural. 

Believe Perth is 2023 though, not sure on the others.

(23 Oct 2022, 6:46 am)Storx wrote Aye it seems that they're trying to pretty much make the whole Scottish fleet electric well the routes in the cities anyway. 

No doubt a headline grabbing thing since they don't really have many city routes and most their Scottish network is rural. 

Believe Perth is 2023 though, not sure on the others.

Early 2023 the article stated with the others following later in the year.

First Look at the Stagecoach Inverness Yutong E10's (SG72 NAA) - https://flickr.com/photos/128789124@N06/...1642647502

It nice to see new stagecoach buses for UK it nice bus I like it.

I think the local livery actually suits the Yutongs quite nicely. Definitely looks better than the E200MMCs in that livery.