I see on busesnortheast facebook page, there is a picture of one of the new BYD double deckers parked up at Blyth

(8 hours ago)citaro5284 wrote I see on busesnortheast facebook page, there is a picture of one of the new BYD double deckers parked up at Blyth

How many they getting?

I was thinking the same thing, what routes are they for again, the 43/44/45?

I think its 14 they are getting. Yes for routes 43/44/45, though will be interesting to see if they do anything else as the current interworking patterns involve some journeys going from these routes onto a Blyth route, especially at the start and end of day.

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The front design of these deckers reminds me of the East Lancs Lolyne body, which is abit outdated design wise today, but I am excited anyway for Blyth's first brand new bus since 2013! (The 10 x Volvo B5LH were 13 reg, but they left for Yorkshire in 2018, so the last buses that were ordered new for Blyth which remain here are 1501 - 5 I think, new August 2012. Everything newer has been elsewhere first.)

Think it'll also be unusual for the 43/44/45 to have brand new buses! When I first got into buses about 10 year ago they were mainly operated by the DAF ALX400's and then from 2017 the 57 plate Enviro 400's plus 1 x 14 reg 7522 which was always a special treat as it felt modern, and actually has heating that works unlike the 57 plates which I remember even in 2018 Beast From The East a lot of those buses didn't have working heating then either.

(3 hours ago)Arriva7446 wrote I think its 14 they are getting. Yes for routes 43/44/45, though will be interesting to see if they do anything else as the current interworking patterns involve some journeys going from these routes onto a Blyth route, especially at the start and end of day.

I was told at the time they won the Levelling Up funding for these that the criteria was quite strict and the reason the 43/44/45 were chosen was because they cover three local authorities in Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland. Apparently there is expectation that they should spend the majority of their miles on those routes for a set amount of time, but interworking patterns wouldn't cause any issues.

(3 hours ago)Shrek wrote I was told at the time they won the Levelling Up funding for these that the criteria was quite strict and the reason the 43/44/45 were chosen was because they cover three local authorities in Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland. Apparently there is expectation that they should spend the majority of their miles on those routes for a set amount of time, but interworking patterns wouldn't cause any issues.

I am quite glad about this as these rules will at least stop Arriva from moving them elsewhere and putting older stuff on instead, like they did with the Enviro 200 MMC's from Ashington in 2022. These criteria will keep them where they are which is reassuring!

I know it is not just Arriva that have a habit of that type of thing. I know Go North East did it too with the 17 plate Streetlites on the 2 in Sunderland with those routes having gone from Versa's, then back to Versas again.

(3 hours ago)Arriva7446 wrote I think its 14 they are getting. Yes for routes 43/44/45, though will be interesting to see if they do anything else as the current interworking patterns involve some journeys going from these routes onto a Blyth route, especially at the start and end of day.

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The front design of these deckers reminds me of the East Lancs Lolyne body, which is abit outdated design wise today, but I am excited anyway for Blyth's first brand new bus since 2013! (The 10 x Volvo B5LH were 13 reg, but they left for Yorkshire in 2018, so the last buses that were ordered new for Blyth which remain here are 1501 - 5 I think, new August 2012. Everything newer has been elsewhere first.)

Think it'll also be unusual for the 43/44/45 to have brand new buses! When I first got into buses about 10 year ago they were mainly operated by the DAF ALX400's and then from 2017 the 57 plate Enviro 400's plus 1 x 14 reg 7522 which was always a special treat as it felt modern, and actually has heating that works unlike the 57 plates which I remember even in 2018 Beast From The East a lot of those buses didn't have working heating then either.

I know they were trialled on the 306/308, unsure if it was a success, but those two services need a bit of love, i remember a time where the 308 was a flagship route and saw quite a bit of investment, now it appears like its been left to rot, 306 has always been a funny one though in regards to investment