Fleet Archive 2020 28 June 2020 Repaints last week included Scania L94UB/Wright Solar 5213 (NK54 NVH) and 5214 (NK54 NVJ) into a white base livery prior to disposal to Hodgson’s Coaches, Barnard Castle, and Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 6050 (NK12 GDE) into a striking ‘retro’ multi-coloured scheme. Inspired by a re-work of the company’s infamous 1985 'don't judge a bus by its colour' initiative alongside the rainbow image that has been so prevalent during the coronavirus crisis. The vehicle will become a visual symbol of the company’s ‘One Team GNE’ colleague and community network being launched to build upon the great strength and team spirit shown by its team during the depths of the crisis, to work together to build even better relations across the company and the communities it serves. Scania L94UB/Wright Solar 5212 (NK54 NVG) has now been permanently withdrawn from service at Go North East, having sustained defects uneconomical to repair. 21 June 2020 Vehicle movements last week included the reinstatement of Volvo B7TL/East Lancs Myllennium Vyking 3971 (PJ02 PYX) at Washington, in a float/reserve capacity. Ahead of the delivery of the new double-deck buses for service X1, the existing allocation of “Red Arrows” branded Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 vehicles are beginning to undergo repaint. 3971 (PJ02 PYX) will provide cover at Washington until the start of the school holidays while these repaints are ongoing. 14 June 2020 Vehicle repaints re-commenced last week and included Volvo B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 6069 (NK62 CZA) and Volvo B9TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 6085 (NL63 YHN) into the 2019 fleet livery. Both previously wore promotional liveries. With most scholars services in Tyne & Wear returning to operation from Monday 15 June, re-allocations have taken place to accommodate the operation of all of these services. The 28S service will now be operated by double-deck buses again, so Optare Solo SR M890/Optare 651 (NL63 XZY) has transferred from Chester-le-Street to Riverside. As a result, Optare Solo M880/Optare 703 (YJ10 MFF) has been taken out of service from Riverside and has transferred to Percy Main in their ‘not in service’ fleet. It remains available to be brought back into service, together with sister 704 (YJ10 MFK), if it is required. Just two vehicles are required to operate scholars services from Hexham Depot currently. As the coaches have not yet been fitted with extra PPE for driving colleagues, Scania CN230UB/Scania Omnicity 5239 (NK56 KHG) and 5240 (NK56 KHH) have been reinstated at Hexham Depot for use on these services. This has allowed for Optare Solo M880/Optare 697 (YJ59 NHH), together with Scania K340EB/Caetano Levante coaches 7100 (FJ08 KMV), 7101 (FJ08 KNV) and 7102 (FJ08 KNW) to be taken out of service. Similar 7098 (JCN 822) has transferred to Riverside, to be made available for any ad-hoc private hire/rail replacement work. Similarly, the coaches at Deptford which are normally allocated to the 4274 school service are to be used on ad-hoc private hire/rail replacement work only, with the school service instead operated by Scania L94UB/Wright Solar which have vandal screens for driving colleagues. As such; 5207 (NK54 NVB), 5208 (NK54 NVC) and 5209 (NK54 NVD) have been reinstated at Deptford. Optare Solo M710SE/Optare 708 (WK58 EAG) has returned to service at Washington, to be allocated to service H2 and hence displacing Optare Solo SR M890/Optare 652 (NL63 XZZ) to be a spare minibus at Washington which can be used on the local network in addition to the staff shuttle “taxi” services which operate between The Galleries and Washington Depot. Services 13 and 25 at Chester-le-Street will now be operated by single-deck vehicles to assist in the release of double- deck vehicles for scholars. As such, Scania CN230UB/Scania Omnicity 5263 (NK56 KJY) has transferred into Chester-le- Street’s fleet from Washington, while similar 5249, 5250, 5251, 5252, 5264, 5266, 5269 and 5272 have all been reinstated at Chester-le-Street. This has released Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 3941 (NK05 GZO) to Washington and 3962 (NK06 JXE), 3963 (NK06 JXD), 3964 (NK06 JXC) and 3965 (NK06 JXB) to Riverside. Additional “hot spares” are being deployed in Gateshead this week in case of any increase in demand associated with the opening of “non-essential” shops. As such; Scania CN230UB/Scania Omnicity 5241 (NK56 KHJ), 5242 (NK56 KHL) and 5253 (NK56 KHZ) have all been reinstated at Riverside. Scania N94UD/East Lancs OmniDekka 6139 (GX03 SVJ) and 6146 (YN55 NFE) have transferred from Riverside to Percy Main, while similar 6133, 6134, 6135, 6144, 6145, 6147 and 6148 have all been reinstated at Percy Main, for the increase in scholars service requirements. Scania CN230UB/Scania Omnicity 5273 (NK56 KKJ) and 5274 (NK56 KKL) have also been reinstated at Percy Main. Dual-door Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 6902 (LX06 EBA), 6903 (LX06 EBC) and 6904 (LX06 EBD) have all been reinstated at Deptford. Dual-door Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 6911 (LX06 EBN) has transferred from Consett to Riverside, and the following Volvo B7TL have also been reinstated at Riverside: - Dual-door Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 6905, 6906, 6907, 6908, 6909, 6910 - Dual-door Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President 6920, 6921, 6922, 6923, 6924, 6925, 6926, 6927, 6928, 6929, 6930, 6931, 6932, 6933, 6934 - Former East Yorkshire Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President 6936, 6938, 6939, 6940, 6941 Scania L94UB/Wright Solar 5213 (NK54 NVH) and 5214 (NK54 NVJ) have both been permanently withdrawn from service at Go North East, and are now being prepared for disposal, with a buyer having been sourced. Scania L94UB/Wright Solar 5211 (NK54 NVF) has also been permanently withdrawn, and, together with 5223 (NK54 NVW), has been sold to Plymouth Citybus. The earlier examples loaned to East Yorkshire; 5226 (NK54 NVZ), 5231 (NK55 OLJ) and 5232 (NK55 OLM), have all now also transferred to Plymouth Citybus, due to their increased vehicle requirement for the Go Cornwall Bus subsidiary. 7 June 2020 Further buses being reinstated since last week include: - Optare Solo M880/Optare 697 (YJ59 NNH) at Hexham, providing temporary cover on local services to release a seatbelted example for use on scholars services, whilst the coaches are fitted with extra PPE for driving colleagues. - Optare Solo M880/Optare 703 (YJ10 MFF) at Riverside, for use on a scholars service. - Scania N94UD/East Lancs OmniDekka 6132 (YN04 GJF) at Riverside, to allow one board on services 26/27 to be converted to double-deck, to allow better social distancing. Open-top format Volvo B7TL/Plaxton President 3999 (574 CPT) has also been taken back out of service from Riverside. 30 May 2020 From Monday 1 June 2020, in line with guidance from the government, Go North East’s bus services will start returning to what can be considered a ‘normal’ level of service on weekdays (albeit still reduced on weekends), also with some minor changes which had originally been planned to take place from 17 May 2020. The depots which were temporarily ‘mothballed’ for the duration of the crisis have now re-opened, except for Saltmeadows Road, which is where most of the National Express coaches are stored. The central works facility remains open as usual. Therefore, the following re-allocations have taken place, to accommodate the ‘ramp up’ of service levels: - Optare Solo 625, 627, 628, 631, 632, 633, 691, 692, 693, 694, 696 from Riverside to Percy Main - Optare Solo 626, 634, 695, 698, 699, 700, 701, 702 reinstated at Percy Main - Optare Solo 703, 704 re-licensed but remain out of service - Optare Solo 635 636 637 638 639 647 648 649 650 672 678 reinstated at Deptford - Optare Solo 646 reinstated at Consett - Optare Solo 651 reinstated at Chester-le-Street - Optare Solo 652 from Riverside to Washington - Optare Solo 657 663 664 665 666 from Deptford to Peterlee - Optare Solo 673 674 675 676 677 from Hexham to Deptford - Optare Solo 679 680 681 682 683 from Riverside to Washington - Optare Solo 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 from Deptford to Washington - Optare Solo 697 re-licensed but remains out of service - Optare Solo 706 707 reinstated at Washington - Optare Solo 708 re-licensed but remains out of service - Optare Solo 715 716 from Deptford to Washington - Optare Solo 717 from Peterlee to Consett - Optare Solo 721 723 reinstated at Hexham - Optare Solo 722 725 reinstated at Chester-le-Street - Optare Solo 724 from Riverside to Chester-le-Street - Mercedes Sprinter 729 730 reinstated at Washington - Volvo B7TL 3941 3962 3963 3964 3965 reinstated at Riverside - Volvo B7TL 3942 3943 reinstated at Washington - Volvo B7TL 3967 3970 3971 3973 3975 3977 3983 re-licensed but remain out of service - Scania OmniDekka 3995 3996 reinstated at Riverside - Volvo B7TL open-top 3997 3998 re-licensed but remain out of service - Volvo B7TL open-top 3999 reinstated at Riverside, for use on staff transport only - Scania L94 4976 5207 5208 5209 5211 5212 5213 5214 re-licensed but remain out of service - Scania OmniCity 5238 5239 5240 5241 5242 5249 5250 5251 5252 5253 5264 5265 5266 5269 5272 5273 5274 re-licensed but remain out of service - Scania OmniCity 5243 5244 5245 5246 5247 5254 5255 5256 5257 5258 5259 5260 5261 5262 5263 reinstated at Washington - Scania OmniCity 5267 5268 5270 5271 reinstated at Chester-le-Street - Mercedes Citaro 5276 5277 5278 5279 5280 5281 5282 5283 5284 5293 5294 5295 5296 5297 5305 5306 5307 5308 5309 5310 5311 5312 5313 5314 5315 5316 5317 5318 5320 5321 5322 5323 5324 5325 reinstated at Riverside - Mercedes Citaro 5285