Does anyone know when the new electric buses for the 21, 58 and X66 are arriving?

Anymore info on the new E400MMC's for the 56 too?

(22 Jun 2025, 8:46 pm)Michael wrote Does anyone know when the new electric buses for the 21, 58 and X66 are arriving?

Anymore info on the new E400MMC's for the 56 too?

X66 getting single or double decker electric buses? Thanks.

(22 Jun 2025, 9:16 pm)OrangeArrow49 wrote X66 getting single or double decker electric buses? Thanks.

4 single deckers ordered for the X66, 7 double decks for the 58 and 18 for the 21.

new orders... perhaps companies should start considering these 16 seaters

https://www.theguardian.com/business/202...production

(22 Jun 2025, 8:46 pm)Michael wrote Does anyone know when the new electric buses for the 21, 58 and X66 are arriving?

Anymore info on the new E400MMC's for the 56 too?

Don't think it will be long before they're Delivered as Go South Coast (Morebus/Bluestar) and Brighton & Hove are currently getting there's delivered for various services down south. 

Hopefully there is more new buses on order other than the E400's for the 56/EV's for the 21/58 & X66.

(27 Jun 2025, 6:14 pm)Malarkey wrote Don't think it will be long before they're Delivered as Go South Coast (Morebus/Bluestar) and Brighton & Hove are currently getting there's delivered for various services down south. 

Hopefully there is more new buses on order other than the E400's for the 56/EV's for the 21/58 & X66.

As Wright StreetDeck Electroliner deliveries for other parts of the Go Ahead empire a reported as arriving in the next few months, I can't see GNE's arriving until towards the end of the year.

(22 Jun 2025, 9:19 pm)Iamtheone8483748 wrote 4 single deckers ordered for the X66, 7 double decks for the 58 and 18 for the 21.

The latest issue of Buses magazine has landed in my letterbox this morning - and in the 'Fleet News' section it reports the Go Ahead Handbook from British Bus Publishing has 25 Wrightbus Electroliners on order for Riverside numbered 6801-6825, with seating capacity of 39 upstairs and 29 downstairs.

Let the "where the vehicles displaced from the 21" chatter commence, i already have a feeling though where they'll end up

(15 Sep 2025, 5:20 pm)V514DFT wrote Let the "where the vehicles displaced from the 21" chatter commence, i already have a feeling though where they'll end up

Well it's not going to be the 56.

Percy Main and to some extent Deptford's B9TLs have been well treated and as heavy duty vehicles with a lot of life left in them, they'll be extremely useful on the X5/X15, 16/16A, X45, 47 - displacing older E400 classics and ex-London/GAG or battered B9TLs previously ragged up and down the A19.

This would also sort the E400MMC issues out at Consett allowing all 16x to be kept for the X30s and X70s.

Likewise, the StreetDecks will offer good fuel savings over the B9TLs, especially on the 307 which just potters around the doors for the most part and the misc/planned 353/354/355/356 workings that the Cobalt deckers are known to do.

(15 Sep 2025, 5:35 pm)L469 YVK wrote Well it's not going to be the 56.

Percy Main and to some extent Deptford's B9TLs have been well treated and as heavy duty vehicles with a lot of life left in them, they'll be extremely useful on the X5/X15, 16/16A, X45, 47 - displacing older E400 classics and ex-London/GAG or battered B9TLs previously ragged up and down the A19.

This would also sort the E400MMC issues out at Consett allowing all 16x to be kept for the X30s and X70s.

Likewise, the StreetDecks will offer good fuel savings over the B9TLs, especially on the 307 which just potters around the doors for the most part and the misc/planned 353/354/355/356 workings that the Cobalt deckers are known to do.

imo the 51/52/93/94 is still the best route for them. Extremely easy routes all pottering around the doors with the 56 B9TL's going to Consett instead.

The Streetdecks are a downgrade over the B9TL's on the 307/309 imo, in both performance and customer quality especially since the B9TL's have had a full refurb since the introduction of the Streetdeck's which haven't had a penny spent on them in the last 8 years and it's showing. It's just a downgrade in every way imo.

(15 Sep 2025, 6:10 pm)Storx wrote imo the 51/52/93/94 is still the best route for them. Extremely easy routes all pottering around the doors with the 56 B9TL's going to Consett instead.

The Streetdecks are a downgrade over the B9TL's on the 307/309 imo, in both performance and customer quality especially since the B9TL's have had a full refurb since the introduction of the Streetdeck's which haven't had a penny spent on them in the last 8 years and it's showing. It's just a downgrade in every way imo.

I've never felt the 51/52/93/94 has ever needed Double Deckers other than at Peak Times when existing frequencies are not enough to cope with the demand, certainly would be better suited to Single Deckers with the odd Double Decker added into the Peaks for me, Go North East really need to order some New Single Deckers to cover the 49/49A/51/52/57/67/69/93/94 & 96.

Personally whilst reliability isn't the greatest on these Angel Streetdeck's perhaps once the Electroliners arrive get them off the road and give them some much needed Mechanical TLC/Repainted. I'd place some of them onto the The Crusader 27 replacing the B9's as these are approaching 14 Years Old and should be taking a back seat within the operational fleet, the others I would send to Washington to cover additional PVR for the October Changes with the proposed Service 14/50 Interworking Pattern.

How viable would it be to put them on the 301, it was done in 2018 after the 21 got the Streetdecks which displaced the 62 plates, they then went onto the 1 (back then) which then displaced the Omnicities onto the 11, but the 301 is a very tempermental service, sometimes its packed and needs DD's, then othertimes its dead

(15 Sep 2025, 8:09 pm)Malarkey wrote I've never felt the 51/52/93/94 has ever needed Double Deckers other than at Peak Times when existing frequencies are not enough to cope with the demand, certainly would be better suited to Single Deckers with the odd Double Decker added into the Peaks for me, Go North East really need to order some New Single Deckers to cover the 49/49A/51/52/57/67/69/93/94 & 96.

Personally whilst reliability isn't the greatest on these Angel Streetdeck's perhaps once the Electroliners arrive get them off the road and give them some much needed Mechanical TLC/Repainted. I'd place some of them onto the The Crusader 27 replacing the B9's as these are approaching 14 Years Old and should be taking a back seat within the operational fleet, the others I would send to Washington to cover additional PVR for the October Changes with the proposed Service 14/50 Interworking Pattern.

Hopefully this happens but I doubt it, they'll go for a repaint and then back out on the road and will continue with the problems they have.


I think they'll stay at Riverside too.

Did my eyes deceive me earlier or have they changed the parking layout at Riverside so buses are now facing towards engineering in the main parking area? Presumably to accommodate the charging infrastructure ?

(15 Sep 2025, 8:09 pm)Malarkey wrote I've never felt the 51/52/93/94 has ever needed Double Deckers other than at Peak Times when existing frequencies are not enough to cope with the demand, certainly would be better suited to Single Deckers with the odd Double Decker added into the Peaks for me, Go North East really need to order some New Single Deckers to cover the 49/49A/51/52/57/67/69/93/94 & 96.

Personally whilst reliability isn't the greatest on these Angel Streetdeck's perhaps once the Electroliners arrive get them off the road and give them some much needed Mechanical TLC/Repainted. I'd place some of them onto the The Crusader 27 replacing the B9's as these are approaching 14 Years Old and should be taking a back seat within the operational fleet, the others I would send to Washington to cover additional PVR for the October Changes with the proposed Service 14/50 Interworking Pattern.

Sorry didn't reply, thought I did. 

Must admit I don't know those routes too well, but wonder if an mixed allocation would work on it? I'm surprised there hasn't been more of it yet as Feetham had loads of routes doing it under his watch at Arriva; the X7/X8, 306, 6 (Durham), 7 (Durham), 22/23/24, just to name some. 

Now that everything isn't painted in magical colours it should be easier to do as I'm sure there's a few routes which could easily fit that bill; the 50, these routes and 301 being three instantly coming to mind. 

I seen someone mention the 301 above, maybe they could be split between the 50/51/52/93/94/301(X39) with the rest of the boards being Streetlite's being displaced out of Percy Main in the opposite direction. They're all 16/66/17/67 plate so a similar age to each other.

(17 Sep 2025, 11:48 am)Storx wrote Sorry didn't reply, thought I did. 

Must admit I don't know those routes too well, but wonder if an mixed allocation would work on it? I'm surprised there hasn't been more of it yet as Feetham had loads of routes doing it under his watch at Arriva; the X7/X8, 306, 6 (Durham), 7 (Durham), 22/23/24, just to name some. 

Now that everything isn't painted in magical colours it should be easier to do as I'm sure there's a few routes which could easily fit that bill; the 50, these routes and 301 being three instantly coming to mind. 

I seen someone mention the 301 above, maybe they could be split between the 50/51/52/93/94/301(X39) with the rest of the boards being Streetlite's being displaced out of Percy Main in the opposite direction. They're all 16/66/17/67 plate so a similar age to each other.

That was me, i brought it up, because i thought back to the last time the 21 got investment, the Hybrids got displaced on to the 1 (now 301) and lasted like that until the Streetlites got put on there, the 301 though is tempermental, sometimes it needs DD's, but other times its dead

When a single deck runs on the 50, it can get rather snug in places.

(17 Sep 2025, 11:48 am)Storx wrote Sorry didn't reply, thought I did. 

Must admit I don't know those routes too well, but wonder if an mixed allocation would work on it? I'm surprised there hasn't been more of it yet as Feetham had loads of routes doing it under his watch at Arriva; the X7/X8, 306, 6 (Durham), 7 (Durham), 22/23/24, just to name some. 

Now that everything isn't painted in magical colours it should be easier to do as I'm sure there's a few routes which could easily fit that bill; the 50, these routes and 301 being three instantly coming to mind. 

I seen someone mention the 301 above, maybe they could be split between the 50/51/52/93/94/301(X39) with the rest of the boards being Streetlite's being displaced out of Percy Main in the opposite direction. They're all 16/66/17/67 plate so a similar age to each other.

Had thought about the 301 myself but I don't they'd handle the long distance nature of the route plus some of the climbs around Wickham/Swalwell with how unreliable those Streetdecks can be, I think a frequency increase on the 301 to Every 15 Minutes would probably be more beneficial to those who use the service.

I had also thought with the B5's potentially coming off of the X20 that these with some TLC/Repaint could go to Washington for use on the 50 then the 16 plate Streetdecks could be displaced elsewhere within the fleet.

I agree that some other routes could possibly benefit.

But Percy Main's B9TLs are not only overkill for their current work (307/309), but also in VERY good condition considering their age.

If the Angel StreetDecks end up on the 307/309, you'd have something like


StreetDeck:
- 6301-03 - Washington
Spare (x3)

- 6304-07 - Percy Main
Spare (x4)

- 6315-29 - Percy Main
307/309 (x15 if 309 PVR increases)

- 6330-33 - Washington
34 (x3)
Spare (x1)

- 6356-76 - Washington
14/50/X1 (x21)


B9TL:
- 6043-44 - Consett
Spare (x2)

- 6045-48 - Various depots
Spares 

- 6086-6108 - Consett
16/16A/47/X5/X15/X45 (x23)

- 6109-17 - Riverside
X21 (x8)
Spare (x1)


B5TL:
- 6308-14
X20 (x3)
Spare (x4)


E400MMC:
- 6336-51 - Consett
X30/X31/X32 (x5)
X70/X71/X73 (x7)
Spare (x4)

- 6378-91 (TBC)- Deptford
56 (x14)


That all means for decker frontline work:
- Consett = E400MMC or B9TL
- Washington = StreetDeck
- Percy Main = StreetDeck
- Deptford = E400MMC or B5TL
- Riverside = B9TL, E400, E400MMC, EV (TBC)

A hell of a lot more simple too. Consett's issues pretty much sorted and E400MMC can be prioritised on the X30s and X70s. No voyager, ex-London, ex-Tyne Tees Xpress or GAG tat doing frontline work for the most part. The Durham Diamond E400's could have some use on the Gateshead local work.

Percy Main practically all StreetLite and StreetDeck. Deptford have enough decker spares - I doubt GNE will order a spare E400MMC.

All the 20/70 plate StreetDecks kept together at Washington and trusty B9TLs doing the X21.

Also, got to take into account that at the moment, GNE are using heavy duty B9TLs on planned 353/4/5/6 workings - StreetDecks will not only save a lot more fuel on the 307/309, but will also save fuel especially on any Nexus secured trips or trips interworking off the 307/309.

And for brownie points, I'm sure NECA would support more efficient StreetDecks operating on a corridor with known high levels of pollution.

(17 Sep 2025, 11:21 am)Chris 1 wrote Did my eyes deceive me earlier or have they changed the parking layout at Riverside so buses are now facing towards engineering in the main parking area?  Presumably to accommodate the charging infrastructure ?

Yes, parking lines have been repainted to acccommodate the charging points

Does anyone have any idea when we will start to see the new buses arrive and are new buses confirmed for the 56?

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Ive looked all over the place and literally can't find anything anywhere about any new bus orders for GNE

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(12 Oct 2025, 5:42 pm)Swiny1 wrote Ive looked all over the place and literally can't find anything anywhere about any new bus orders for GNE

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https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/go-north-e...tric-buses


"The funding will add 11 more battery-electric vehicles by 2026, bringing the total number to 47. These additional buses will cover services 58 and X66, operating from its Gateshead Riverside depot alongside 18 electric vehicles already being used on Voltra services 53, 54, and the Q3."

(12 Oct 2025, 6:31 pm)Liam Hall wrote https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/go-north-e...tric-buses


"The funding will add 11 more battery-electric vehicles by 2026, bringing the total number to 47. These additional buses will cover services 58 and X66, operating from its Gateshead Riverside depot alongside 18 electric vehicles already being used on Voltra services 53, 54, and the Q3."

I wonder how long the current E12s will last on the Q3, or at least the full batch of them. While waiting at Regent Centre yesterday afternoon for a service into town, a Q3 went past in each direction - the combined load was 1 person. 

Equally, most mornings while waiting for my bus to work I see a southbound Q3X and northbound Q3 - I've never seen more than 5 people on either. For comparison the Arriva 43/44/45 going through towards town at the same time carry at least 30, and the northbound services carry double digits. 

No idea how GNE can be making any money on the northern end of the Q3 route if I'm honest - even the X46 carries more folk. Definitely not the sort of service which justifies 3 year old electric saloons on a 20 minute frequency.

The X47 suffers huge delays and is regularly duped by deckers

Tells you all you need to know about GNEs current incompetent commercial team

(12 Oct 2025, 8:51 pm)PH - BQA wrote I wonder how long the current E12s will last on the Q3, or at least the full batch of them. While waiting at Regent Centre yesterday afternoon for a service into town, a Q3 went past in each direction - the combined load was 1 person. 

Equally, most mornings while waiting for my bus to work I see a southbound Q3X and northbound Q3 - I've never seen more than 5 people on either. For comparison the Arriva 43/44/45 going through towards town at the same time carry at least 30, and the northbound services carry double digits. 

No idea how GNE can be making any money on the northern end of the Q3 route if I'm honest - even the X46 carries more folk. Definitely not the sort of service which justifies 3 year old electric saloons on a 20 minute frequency.

The whole route is just a mess, the other end is just as bad and could easily be dealt with the 18 being extended since the tax payer is currently subsidising 5 BPH in the Walker area which is crazy considering the Stagecoach 12 exists. 

imo it badly needs to go to back to it's original purpose and act as a local bus for getting around Newcastle especially linking the massive bank on the Quayside, ideally free like the Manchester Free Bus with both extensions removed, ideally finding a way to link up the RVI aswell for those who are less able to walk which I'm sure there's a lot of people heading there who fit that category.

(12 Oct 2025, 6:31 pm)Liam Hall wrote https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/go-north-e...tric-buses


"The funding will add 11 more battery-electric vehicles by 2026, bringing the total number to 47. These additional buses will cover services 58 and X66, operating from its Gateshead Riverside depot alongside 18 electric vehicles already being used on Voltra services 53, 54, and the Q3."

How many electrics arriving for service 21 and which type of electrics?


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(12 Oct 2025, 8:51 pm)PH - BQA wrote I wonder how long the current E12s will last on the Q3, or at least the full batch of them. While waiting at Regent Centre yesterday afternoon for a service into town, a Q3 went past in each direction - the combined load was 1 person. 

Equally, most mornings while waiting for my bus to work I see a southbound Q3X and northbound Q3 - I've never seen more than 5 people on either. For comparison the Arriva 43/44/45 going through towards town at the same time carry at least 30, and the northbound services carry double digits. 

No idea how GNE can be making any money on the northern end of the Q3 route if I'm honest - even the X46 carries more folk. Definitely not the sort of service which justifies 3 year old electric saloons on a 20 minute frequency.

We must see them at different times. The Q3 always seemed to have enough passengers on it when I see it, though granted nowhere near as many as the Arriva routes that do the GNR. 

I don't often travel from Great Park, but on the three times recently I've waited for the X47 there's been big delays. Really the Q3, even with it's detour through Jesmond could be a quicker journey for those willing to walk to it.

(13 Oct 2025, 5:38 pm)Shrek wrote We must see them at different times. The Q3 always seemed to have enough passengers on it when I see it, though granted nowhere near as many as the Arriva routes that do the GNR. 

I don't often travel from Great Park, but on the three times recently I've waited for the X47 there's been big delays. Really the Q3, even with it's detour through Jesmond could be a quicker journey for those willing to walk to it.

If NGP does eventually get adopted by the council, are GNE & Arriva not free to run their own commercial services through Great Park?

(13 Oct 2025, 5:38 pm)Shrek wrote We must see them at different times. The Q3 always seemed to have enough passengers on it when I see it, though granted nowhere near as many as the Arriva routes that do the GNR. 

I don't often travel from Great Park, but on the three times recently I've waited for the X47 there's been big delays. Really the Q3, even with it's detour through Jesmond could be a quicker journey for those willing to walk to it.

I see them around 07:15-07:40, but even the ones I see outside my usual commute look to be the same. Appreciate there will likely be a couple later into the peak which might do better, but one or two trips a day with a decent loading surely cannot justify a 20 minute frequency for much longer.

The X47 has nowhere near enough time in it in the peaks, and is just about right during the day - but any delays and the entire thing is a shambles. The Sunday timetable may as well not exist, they run in pairs and neither of them are at the time they should be. The X47 does carry far larger passenger loadings into/out of Great Park than I ever remember the Q3 taking, the same cannot be said for the 49 though. 

A walk across the bridge and an Arriva express from Brunton Lane tends to be quicker than both the Q3 and X47, time of day dependent for the latter. It's what I do after a match, as Stagecoach seem to be playing a game of allocating the smallest available vehicle, while Arriva run multiple dupes. Given the amount of people who get off with me at Brunton Lane and start the walk over the A1, I'd say it's a fairly common thing.

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(13 Oct 2025, 6:13 pm)L469 YVK wrote If NGP does eventually get adopted by the council, are GNE & Arriva not free to run their own commercial services through Great Park?

Believe they would be, though I doubt Arriva would bother. Realistically they'd have to divert an express, or send a 44/45 on a detour to slow them down even more.

GNE could send the Q3 back over, but realistically the main issue with that was the Jesmond diversion - and that still exists. 

There's probably not enough need for any more services from GP to Newcastle without harming the sustainability of the X47, so unless GNE/Arriva offered something which did something completely different I think it would be futile.