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This is indeed big news about some Olympuses from yorkshire heading to the North East Kuyoyo!

I am considering a day in Middlesbrough to include an X93 as far as Guisborough, a MAX Omnicity on route X66/67 and a MAX Pulsar single-decker. Is it easy to track one down in Middlesbrough? It's just that as route X12 seems to be mainly double-deck now, I am unsure how many are still at Stockton.

Redcar's 1435 appeared yesterday (Friday) in Haymarket bus station working service 54 to Whitley Bay. Looked like a fairly recent repaint and is still sporting Arriva Durham legal lettering.

Major updates from the North East

The transfer of the B9TL/Olympus in exchange for some of the ex-London B7TL/Alexander Dennis ALX400 is now not happening. 7416 (the one that retains Urban90 seating) is currently working for Ashington, while 7424/6 have setted at Redcar for the X93. As such, 7486 is now at Ashington while 7487 is working for Durham but will move to Blyth this weekend to replace the last T-reg ALX400-bodied DB250 7458.
7418/21/3 are now in service at Durham.
Arriva North East 7424 (LJ55 BPZ) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr

Stockton-based Solos 2803-5/7/8/29 are now painted and branded for 'Frequenta' 7 (Stockton - Yarm, Willey Flatts) and also feature Next Stop Announcement (NSA) systems . 2826 has not been treated and will be transferred out of Stockton at some point in the future.
Durham-based 2822/3/38/9 have also been repainted into Frequenta base livery for the 49/49a (Durham - Brandon Circulars).
Arriva North East 2807 (YK08 ESU) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr

Stockton-based Pulsars 1485/9/91/4 have been painted into 'Frequenta' base livery ahead of the upgrading of the 15 (Roseworth/North Tees Hospital - Stockton - Thornaby - Bassleton Court/Cunningham Drive/Ingleby Barwick), however painting of the Stockton fleet has now been suspended due to long-term roadworks on the 15 route which will push the rebranding into 2017.
Arriva North East 1489 (NK61 CZC) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr

Instead, painting is on-going on the Redcar fleet ready for their 'Frequenta' upgrade on the 63 (Redcar - Eston - Middlesbrough). So far treated are Pulsars 1432/8. The remaining Pulsars (1429-31/3-7/9) will be treated along with some of the Temsas.
Arriva North East 1432 (NK59 DNN) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr

Cadet 1906 moved to Redcar from Stockton to cover the repainting - however, following the fatal accident in Darlington Town Centre a few weeks ago, it has transferred back to Darlington depot to cover the missing EcoCity (4802).

Thanks for the update Tony. Are the Olympuses staying in Yorkshire now then?

Slimline solos 2602/3 have turned up in Selby still wearing Nexus livery. They now carry Arriva Yorkshire fleetnumbers 3030/1. Presumably this is a permanent transfer out of the North East fleet.

With route 685 being rebranded as Cross Pennine, I have seen a picture of a Scania single-deck with Cross Pennine livery. I wonder whether these have been refurbished, preferably with leather seats?

Big update from the North East

(07/01/2017 11:20)Metroline1511 Wrote: [ -> ]With route 685 being rebranded as Cross Pennine, I have seen a picture of a Scania single-deck with Cross Pennine livery. I wonder whether these have been refurbished, preferably with leather seats?

4660-2 have been painted into the Cross Pennine livery, and had their original leather seating retrimmed in e-leather in a similar style to that used in the MAX vehicles - but have 'Cross Pennine' stitching in the headrests (of course). With the revised PVR following the introduction of the new timetable (which is now a requirement of 5 - 3 Arriva and 2 Stagecoach), 4664 has been refurbished to MAX standard and painted into MAX livery.

Further MAX upgrades are due during 2017:

• 306 (Newcastle to Tynemouth or Whitley Bay) using Pulsars
• 308 (Newcastle to Blyth) using the Volvo B5LHs
• X21 (Darlington to Peterlee and Sunderland), expected to retain the current allocation of EcoCitys
• X22 (Middlesbrough to Peterlee via North Tees Hospital) using Pulsars, which will be increased to every 30 minutes on the southern section between Middlesbrough and North Tees Hospital
  

Frequenta
The Frequenta rebrands are more-or-less complete (for now)

Stockton depot's 15 was launched in December, with Pulsars 1484-7/9-91/4 branded for the service
Arriva North East 1485 (NK61 CYY) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr
1457-9 carry a generic 'Frequent Connections into Stockton' branding to cover the 7/7a as well as 15.
Arriva North East 1457 (NK10 CGF) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr
At the time of posting, 1460 is away for repaint - leaving 1488/92 to be treated and leaving 1488 as the last 'Director's Cut' branded example.

The 63 launched in August as part of the opening of the new Travel Office in Redcar. All 11 Pulsars (1429-39) are branded for the service.
Arriva North East 1438 (NK10 CEX) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr
Temsas 4701/2 have been painted but as yet have not been branded.
Arriva North East 4701 (YJ59 BHO) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr
Despite not having been painted, 4700 has gained 'Frequent Connections into Redcar' branding
Arriva North East 4700 (YJ59 AZV) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr

Durham's 49/49a launched in October alongside the MAX launch on the X46.
Arriva North East 2823 (YK08 ETZ) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr

MAX
The X46 launched in October, with Volvo B7TL/ALX400 7417-9/21-3/7 branded for the service
Arriva North East 7418 (LJ55 BTV) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr
7420 currently carries MAX logos but without any branding
Arriva North East 7420 (LJ55 BTY) by Tony Kuy, on Flickr

Thank you for your update Kuyoyo. The MAX-esque Scanias on route 685 would differ from my previous rides which had traditional moquettes.

It could be nice to ride a MAX Volvo B7TL-ALX400 like 7420 above. I hope they reach Newcastle regularly but my hunch is that they are just used as spares on MAX routes generally.

According to the West Yorkshire Bus Forum, the Volvo B5LHs and Tempos are due to move to the North East later this year. We shall see in due course whether this does indeed happen.

Re Cross Pennine 685 Newcastle<>Carlisle.

Change of vehicles. Today (Tues 04 April 2017) we had Sapphire VDL 1512 NL63VRF working the 1415 Carlisle->Newcastle (arr 1633) (yesterday (Mon 03 April 2017) it was VDL 1481) and even more interesting and going the other way was a double decker, Volvo B7TL/Wright Eclipse Gemini 7493 LF02PRZ working the 1245 Newcastle-<Carlisle(arr 1505) and 1515 Carlisle->Newcastle.

There now appears to be a regular double deck round trip. 7492 has been seen - various photos on flickr. Today it was 7493.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/northern156/33436391302/ - Arriva North East's Jesmond-based Volvo B7TL/ Wright Gemini 7492 LF02PKX is seen passing Haltwhistle's West End Industrial Estate with a Cross Pennine service 685 from Carlisle to Newcastle.
This is probably the third or fourth time a decker has ever worked the full route to Carlisle; with previous versions of the route having a low bridge on some variations. Coupled with this are some low trees at Corbridge however this is not an issue any more.
A decker is now reportedly booked on the 1245 from Newcastle; forming the 1515 from Carlisle which is used by various schoolchildren from Brampton into Northumberland.

AND

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulgrindley/33631174401/ Owing to the number of school children (over 50) from William Howard School who are travelling on the 685 bus service (15.15 from Carlisle) Arriva buses have recently taken the decision to run a double decker bus on the 12.45 from Newcastle to Carlisle which returns at 15.15.

Another bumper update here:

Ashington
14 new Enviro400MMCs are due here later in the year for 'Sapphire' X21/X22. Just two of the current allocation are due to stay - these to be two of the 7 examples new in 2014.

Following service changes in Durham, VDL DB250/Lowlander 7456 has returned here mainly for use on the 35. Following service changes, Streetlite 1581 transferred to Jesmond depot - it has been mentioned that the entire batch of Streetlites here will be moving to Jesmond in the future.

'MAX' Omnicity 4664 is here for the summer increase on the X18. Following changes at the end of October, Omnicity 4653/9 are now allocated to the X20 rather than the X14.

Blyth
Volvo B5LH 7801-10 are currently being refurbished to 'MAX' specification for the 308 (Blyth to Newcastle via Whitley Bay and the Coast Road) as well as for evening operation on the X10/X11.

The entire fleet of MPDs here are to be replaced later in the year by Solos from Durham.

Jesmond
As mentioned under 'Ashington', Streetlite 1581 is now here. Additional mentioned under that heading, the soon-to-be-replaced 'Sapphire' Enviro400s from that depot will be transferring here for use on the 43 (Newcastle to Cramlington and Morpeth), 44 (Newcastle to Dinnington and Morpeth) and 45 (Newcastle to Dinnington via Brunswick) replacing the DAF DB250/Alexander ALX400s currently branded for the service.

Pulsars 1419/80-2/95-7/9/1500 are being refurbished to MAX standard for the 306. Streetlites 1582-9 will instead be allocated to the 52/53/54 cycle to replace the remaining B10BLEs here.

Durham
Due here in the near future from Arriva Yorkshire are some of the Optare Tempos. They will indirectly allow the depot's Solo allocation (bar 'Frequenta 49/49a' branded 2822/3/38/9) to be transferred.

Stockton
Pulsars 1448-56 have been repainted into Frequenta base livery by Bus & Coach World (1451/3 are yet to be done - 51 is away now, 1453 going next week) for services 27/27a. Current spare branded 1457-60 are to have their branding amended to act as spares for the entire Stockton depot Frequenta network.

Following changes to the 'Sapphire' 5/5a, Pulsar 1512 moved to Jesmond with Streetlites 1550/1 losing their 5/5a branding (1552 lose and then regained the branding due to an error). Streetlites are now found on all Middlesbrough area routes on Sundays to provide free WiFi as well as the additional BSOG payment.

Redcar
Former Stockton Solo 2826 and ex-Durham MPD 1766 are now here for use on Whitby Towns. 1766 previously spend a day here last year.