Devon Sunset
Member
Hideous looking things. Not a lot of effort went in to that design.
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Arriva North East
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At the end of the day, it's there to get people A-B, not to win a beauty contest.
Exactly that. I know the people of the villages these buses will serve are happy they're nearly here. Surely have to be more reliable than the old Sapphire E400s which have put in a great shift but really need retiring now.
Devon Sunset
Member
Fair enough I agree reliability is the most important thing and it's all down to personal preference on the looks front.
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
From the quarter light back they’re a blatant knock off of the E400EV that BYD previously worked on. It’s just the front that looks like it ran face-first into a wall.
As long as they work it doesn’t really matter, though.
buslad1988
Member
- Joined
- 28 Dec 2018
- Messages
- 650
Indeed. They certainly give me East Lancs Lowlander vibes from the front, which were an Arriva stalwart of course.
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YorkRailFan
Established Member
Solo 2603 is now in Chester.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
They were successful in ZEBRA bid for Darlington. 15 buses due for early 2026 but upped to 21 as Redcar got 10 Evoras instead. Dunno on delivery dates now.
Ah, sounds good.
I'm uncertain as to the breakdown of everything new ANE is getting, but various acquisitions and the resultant cascades between depots will see off the oldest Pulsars and E400s.
YorkRailFan
Established Member
aswilliamsuk
Member
- Joined
- 10 Jul 2016
- Messages
- 527
There has been suggestions on the NE Bus Forum that a large number of Enviro 400 MMC (around 30 or so) are due for Northumbria depots as well as the 14 BYD deckers for Blyth.
The Darlington ZEBRA allocation was announced earlier this year (as noted above, a reallocation from original plans).
31 E400MMCs - 6 for Redcar/Whitby for the X93 (replacing the B9TLs) with the remaining 25 split between Blyth and Ashington (likely to be 12 for Ashington - as it's rumoured the 17-plate examples will be cascaded out to Yorkshire)
18 E200MMCs - all reportedly destined for Stockton
An unconfirmed number of Volvo B8RLE/MCV Evoras for the various depots in the Tees Valley region
14 BYD BD11s for Blyth, already being delivered numbered 8001-8014 for the 43/44/45
14 BYD BD11s for Durham (likely to be 8015-8028) for services 64 (Arnison Centre to Sherburn Village/Musgrave Gardens), 48 (Durham to New Brancepeth) and X46 (Durham to Crook via Willington)
21 Wright GB Kite Electroliners for Darlington - 7 to 11.6m length for the 2 (Branksome to Red Hall), the remaining 14 to 10.9m length for town services 3 (Skerne Park), 4 (Minors Crescent), 9 (Springfield), 10 (Whinfield), 13A/13B (Firth Moor) and 19 (Faverdale)
Regards the Darlington order, so all the town services get new buses again, just over 3 years after the last new ones arrived.
And all the out of town services are left with old, battered, slow busses.
Was on one last week, 10 mph on the A167 near cock of north at Durham going up hill.
One yesterday where at every stop after closing doors , driver had to restart bus as wouldn't release brakes.
From listening to customers the list of daily breakdowns and faults is ridiculous.
Darlington are in-line for a share of some of the Evoras - they are a Tees Valley depot after all. Plus the 2016 ex-Midlands/Southern Counties E400MMCs presently at Durham are due to cascade to Darlington when Durham's BYDs enter service, allowing the 2009 E400s to be withdrawn as well as an increased number of deckers at the depot allowing more boards to be converted to Decker operation (or, more importantly, allow the current boards booked for Decker to be constantly decker worked).
Ah! That's sounds a bit better.
aswilliamsuk
Member
- Joined
- 10 Jul 2016
- Messages
- 527
Blimey, some serious investment at last.
It appears that the funding taps have been unlocked at last at Arriva generally - Yorkshire getting 50 new vehicles at the moment (22 E400 MMC and 28 E200 MMC), Leicester getting GB Kites (not sure how many, but it seems around 30), Shrewsbury getting 15 Volvo B8RLE/MCV and handfuls of E200 MMC elsewhere too.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
As @Kuyoyo says, there will be a level of cascades but, of course, there is a backlog of new vehicle investment so 98 vehicles can only do so much. Be interesting to see where the short e200mmcs head.
One other point - I know it probably won't happen but would be good if the new e400mmc had decent high backed seats (as per the 17 plates) rather than the basic bus seats of the 72 plates. Sadly, I think it'll be basic again
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
I still can't get my head around why they chose the low-backed basic seats for buses which operate some pretty long-distance services in Northumberland.
Same with the E200MMCs in Darlington.
Surely the price difference between a Civic V1 and a Civic V3 can't be much?
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
It really doesn't matter on the e200mmc given the relatively short journey duration, even when they were new to Ashington/Jesmond.
The deckers though... different kettle of fish. I've been on a number of journeys on those vehicles and my journeys were 30 - 75 mins and I don't think that is out of the ordinary. The 17 plates are quite pleasant - the rest (16 plates and 72 plates) are really basic.
Due to vandalism of the headrests on the older stock - however the new vehicles will feature Civic V3s with e-leather trim previously used on the 'Sapphire' fleets, as per recent deliveries to Yorkshire and the BYDs.
What will be leaving Durham then? Pulsars, or perhaps older E400s?
Many thanks.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
@Kuyoyo mentioned in msg #106 that some of 16 plate e400mmcs should head to Darlington to replace their elderly e400s, so the 09 plates will be pensioned off.
I have a soft spot for 7514-21 - they were some of the last new vehicles delivered to Bishop Auckland depot.
2 of the MMCs should leave Durham in the spring if Arriva retain the Park and Ride contract in Whitby - 7594/5 are earmarked for that. That would leave 12 at Durham - including 7514/5 at the depot, that totals the amount of BYDs due for Durham. Darlington have the remaining active members of that batch of E400s (7517 has already been withdrawn due to Chassis Corrosion) coupled with a number of Pulsars to be withdrawn - the likelihood of any vehicles that were new to Bishop Auckland still being on-fleet by this time in 2026 is slim with the amount of new vehicles due.
Thanks both - the 16-regs were quite handy on 6/X12 so it's a bit pity to lose them.
I hope those BYDs are built better than their tri-axled counterparts in HK, tried those once and it was rattling all the way with poor ventilation.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Indeed - might just be some of 1414-1426 (?) that survive (condition dependant and there's a lot to be replaced) but the e400s have been flogged to death; mind you, so have the Pulsars!
Rumours going around the short e200mmcs could be heading to Yorkshire to replace the e200minis
Am I right in thinking the 63 route and one other in Redcar originally gained Zebra funding of EVs, but couldn't complete the infrastructure at the depot? Could it be assumed the suggested batch of Evoras are going to Redcar for replace this investment instead?
The 63 was the only Redcar route originally intended for EVs under the Zebra funding - I understand the Evoras weren’t a replacement for that investment rather something totally unrelated.