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There's 3 vehicles which are not part of the deal which will be coming south in January, and others on long leases to McGills

Let me see if I can get close, the 3 buses going back south will be the 17xx's still here, the long term leases to mcgills will be all the emeralds. My guess would be that Xplore has been punted because of the logistics of transferring buses north and south, add that to the number of aging Geminis due for replacement means we're not a 'financially viable option' anymore. The way mcgills are throwing money around, especially in the current climate, I can see this going tits up, I'm just glad Dundee isn't that big to walk around when it does.

Hi @Tony, just wondering if there's any update on an ETA for the Xplore Emerald E400MMC, it must be due about now.

With all those transfers occurring/occurred - is now a good time to post my garage totals (by vehicle type) list?! Does this look right - I've excluded trainers, preserved buses and the NX coaches and obviously all the withdrawn vehicles:

Acocks Green
19 Scania (1788-90/92-1807)
31 E200MMC (2201-31)
17 B7/ALX (4276-86/88-91/95/301)
35 B7/Gemini (4525-34; 4635-59)
47 E400MMC (6115-48; 6701-10; 7515-17)
___
149

Birmingham Central
3 E200MMC (765/67-68)
62 Trident (4441-9/55-74; 4570-77; 4608-23/25-28/30-34)
50 E400 (4871-80/95-921/37-49)
18 B5H (5501-18)
90 E400MMC (6825-92; 6945-50; 7518-33)
___
223

Coventry
10 E400EV (E020-29)
16 E200 (831-33/37-44/71-75)
34 B7RLE (2143-50/52-77)
17 Trident (4370/99/4403/6-14; 4450-54)
10 B7/ALX (4415-24)
17 B7/Gemini (4660-75/78)
54 E400 (4763-76; 4830-42/81-94; 4983-95)
20 E400MMC (6951-67; 7539-41)
___
178

Pensnett
34 Dart/E200 (729-34/54/56-57/801-4/21-30/34-36/63-70)
18 B7RLE (2094-111)
5 Wright StreetDeck (3301-5)
10 Trident (4323-25/27/31-33/59-60/63)
9 E400 (4753-59/61-62)
40 E400MMC (6101-3/5-7/9-14; 6915-42)
___
116

Perry Barr
3 Wright StreetLite (431/3/5)
66 Scania (1808-33; 1863-77; 1899-907/25; 7019-33)
31 B7/Gemini (4475-96/98-4505/7)
4 Scania DD (4777-80)
41 E400 (4799-815/17-29/43-53)
51 E400MMC (6796-6824; 6994-7000/7500-14)
___
196

Walsall
12 E200 (805-8/55-62)
50 Scania (1834-62/78-98)
44 B7RLE (1750-73; 2112-19/24-35)
31 Trident (4125; 4306/34/40/42/44/46/48-49/51-52/54/58/65/67; 4568-69/94-4607)
22 E400 (4733-37; 4854-70)
48 E400MMC (6711-58)
___
207

West Bromwich
20 E200 (755/58-64; 809-20)
21 Scania (1918/34-53)
7 E200MMC (2232-38)
13 B7/ALX (4237/39-41/44-45/53-54/66/70-73)
28 B7/Gemini (4506/8-19/21-24; 4679/87-96)
49 E400 (4738-52/60; 4950-82)
28 E400MMC (6104/8; 6968-93)
___
166

Wolverhampton
13 E200 (751-53; 845-54)
75 B7RLE (2001-29/59-93; 2120-23/36-42)
41 Trident (4310-12/14/17-18; 4425-40; 4535-42/53/55-64)
10 E400 (4927-36)
30 E400H (5401-21; 5422-30)
37 E400MMC (6759-95)
___
206

Yardley Wood
19 E400EV (E001-19)
23 Scania (1909-17/19-24/26-33)
40 Trident (4321/82-90/92-94; 4544-52/65-67/78-92)
20 E400 (4718-32; 4922-26)
29 E400MMC (6893-914/43-44; 7534-38)
___
131

Total 1572

There's one error I can see, there's only 3 Streetlites at PN, the other 2 are still here in Dundee.

You could have brought some sun up with you as well Tony! lol

Are 2244/5/6 still Dundee bound once all this covid19 stuff is out of the way, I noticed there was an Xplore green 224x E200MMC in the background of the latest photo of 5422. How ironic, 5422's display says "Xplore Dundee, discover your city" whilst being painted WM crimson red, while the display on the Xplore Dundee E200MMC would probably say NX West Midlands, lol

Are 2244/5/6 still Dundee bound after all this virus madness calms down?

4709 has just bee for a trip to Douglas. Looks like it is the first Gemini back in use

Nope, there was a Gemini on the 32 (Fintry) last Friday.

And 5423, 5429, 5430.

5425 was inside being prepared as the next one to head south, so surprised you saw that one

How are the battery packs doing on these near 7 year old hybrids? I've read online that they don't last as long as they were expected to and cost 1/3 of the original price of the bus to replace, if they do fail, will they be replaced or will the buses gut upgraded to Euro V or VI diesel?

Yes, 9 x new Emerald's in, 9 x E400H out to NXWM - as Tony has already confirmed on the Dundee Forum.

And from rumours I've heard the E400H's are to be converted to fully diesel? that doesn't say much for the hybrid technology in them, anyway that wasn't my point Winston, my point was that there are routes in this city that need the new buses if XD are to be taken seriously when it comes to all their green claims. The air pollution monitoring equipment is in a big grey box on the corner of my street, yet only occasionally on a Sunday does a hybrid pass it. I appreciate what you pointed out about the retro fitted buses, and that is to be applauded, but even the high standards of Euro 6 aren't the same as hybrids, I'm no eco warrior, but I do have COPD in my lungs and the more that can be done to clean up the air I breathe the better,buses aren't the problem, the number of cars on the road are.

Dundee is getting 9 new emeralds

And we're losing our 9 SP13 plated E400H's in the process, Dundee has 2 of the top 5 most polluted roads in Scotland both of which are on the 28/29 Douglas to Charleston route yet where are the hybrids? These 9 new emeralds would have been the ideal opportunity to cascade the older hybrids onto this route. Xplore are all over facebook claiming their green credentials yet the one route they have that needs the hybrids the most rarely sees one, all the new buses get put on the money making routes... imagine that...

Former Travel Dundee/Travel West Midlands/National Express Optare Spectra/DAF DB250LF 4002 (R2 NEG), the first low floor double decker built and introduced in Scotland has been secured for preservation by the Scotbus Preservation Group.

Great news, I always hoped this bus would be preserved, I had hoped the first low floor single decker in Scotland (Tayside Scania/East Lancs 114 L3 LOW) would have been preserved as well but it was allowed to rot and was scrapped. Where will 4002 be based?

From my own notes I wrote this: 'In 2014 NX Group ordered 100 ADL buses; x56 Enviro400 (4940-95), x14 Enviro200 (751-764) and x30 Enviro200 (831-60)' Suppose it depends where you count the E400 deliveries from.

I did also have the grand total as 600 (including 50 for NX Dundee! - which is probably a bit optimistic to expect almost 50% fleet replacement in about 4 years).

Only 19 "new" buses for Dundee since 2014 (14 E400MMC's and 5 Streetlites), it'll be interesting to see what happens in a couple of years when our 25 BX54 and SP54 plate Geminis need replacing, time will tell I suppose...

What about either an Alexander bodied Volvo or a Wright bodied one in that?

There's an Alexander bodied Volvo in my profile pic, that was a good livery, any bus would look good in it.

0042 HSR 42X Dundee Travel Volvo Ailsa Alexander RV (fictional) by DD02 BUS, on Flickr

Do all Dundee repaints get a retrim? B7RLE's etc

At last count, nothing under 4718 (07 plate E400's) would be gaining a Crimson refurb at NXWM, also buses below 4718 that hadn't already been upgraded to Euro 6 will not now treated, as service life insufficent / too old to recoup upgrade/refurbisment costs.

There's a surprise, Dundee has 4700-17 in our garage, they're trapped fair enough, but added to the 25 older Geminis in our fleet, I'm beginning to think Xplore Dundee aren't as green as they claim to be on Facebook, I've heard many a Gemini pass where I live sounding like an asthmatic hoover!

Where will the numbering jump to next given all the Dundee 7xxx that are still on the system? 7500?