Vehicle Details
Registration: YJ13 HOH
Chassis: Optare Solo SR M890
Bodywork: Optare
Depot: Henshaw's Coaches, Moreton-in-Marsh
Livery: 2016 fleet livery - No Change?
Year new: 2013
Vehicle History
July 2020
Go North East
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To facilitate the transfer of Optare Solo SR M890/Optare 635 (NK61 FJP) and 636 (NK61 FXD) from Deptford to Hexham to operate the Hadrian's Wall Country Bus AD122 service, this vehicle has transferred from Percy Main Depot to Deptford, to operate primarily on the Deptford staff shuttle service, in their place.
June 2020
Go North East
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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, this vehicle has now transferred from Riverside Depot to Percy Main.
March 2020
Go North East
On March 23 2020, Boris Johnson placed the country on "lockdown", enforcing rules on people only leaving the house to shop for necessities, to exercise once a day, for medical needs or to provide care, or to travel to and from work (if they can't work from home). Shops, pubs, restaurants and theatres have all been closed, as well as mass gatherings being banned, schools being closed, and sporting events being cancelled. Therefore, further changes were made to bus timetables from Saturday 28 March, reflecting a mass reduction in customer demand for buses. As part of these timetable revisions; Chester-le-Street, Percy Main and Washington Depots were temporarily 'mothballed' with services operated out of key depots Consett, Deptford (including Peterlee outstation) and Riverside (including Hexham outstation) only. Therefore, this vehicle has transferred from Percy Main Depot to Riverside.
March 2020
Go North East
This vehicle has been fitted with a free customer Wi-Fi system.
May 2019
Go North East
In line with service changes and the introduction of new brand identities, there were a large number of vehicle re-allocations which took place on Sunday 19 May, the significance of which have been likened to the South Shields and Bishop Auckland depot closures in 2005 and 2006 respectively. This vehicle has transferred from Hownsgill Depot to Percy Main, in order to operate "Little Coasters" services 40/41/42.
April 2019
Go North East
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This vehicle has transferred from Stanley Depot to Hownsgill. After two and a half years of development, the region’s largest bus operator, Go North East opened the doors to its brand new £3.5 million, state-of-the-art Hownsgill Depot in Consett, County Durham, on Friday 15 March 2019. The high-tech operation replaces the company’s Stanley Depot, which it operated from for nearly 100 years. Therefore; most vehicles based at Stanley transferred to Hownsgill on Sunday 7 April, the date from which the new depot commenced operations.
January 2018
Go North East
Due to the high requirement for minibuses in the fleet as a result of the award of Durham County Council contracts, service 18 is being upgraded from a minibus allocation to midibus. As such; this vehicle has been released for cascade from Crook Depot to Stanley, where it will primarily be allocated to the Tesco Free Bus T1/T2 service contract, allowing Optare Solo M710SE/Optare 706 (WK58 EAE) to transfer to Chester-le-Street to operate the newly-awarded Chester-le-Street Town Bus Durham County Council contract.
August 2017
Go North East
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This vehicle has received the tagline "No change? | Get your bus ticket on your phone with our mobile app"
November 2016
Go North East
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This vehicle has entered service at Crook Depot, where it will be allocated to service 18, replacing Transbus MPD/Transbus Mini Pointer 571 (NK53 TMV) and 572 (NK53 TMX).
October 2016
Go North East
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This vehicle has been repainted into Go North East's new corporate livery. The new livery design is a a lot more eye-catching and features a two-tone base livery, with the traditional key colour of red towards the front of the bus, and non-metallic dark blue towards the back. It is thought that further vinyls will be added at a later date, in order to reflect the quality and customer values of Go North East.
October 2016
Go North East
Photograph by
Since the withdrawal of Oxfordshire County Council subsidies on 20th July 2016, Thames Travel has been operating the Bicester Town bus services 22 and 23 on a commercial basis. These services run at a loss of approximately £4,500 per week and therefore this decision was a temporary arrangement, while Thames Travel continued discussions with several local stakeholders to pool existing finances and resources to safeguard the longer term future of the services. The company’s proposal included extended operating hours to better meet the needs of commuters using rail services, offering improved daily links to the new Park & Ride site and providing a frequent service between the town centre, two rail stations and Bicester Village. Unfortunately, while some stakeholders were supportive of the company’s proposals and were prepared to provide some funding for the services, others chose to pursue their own commercial interests and therefore services 22 and 23 were withdrawn from the end of service on Saturday 3rd September 2016. The Optare Solos allocated to these services are now hence surplus to requirements at Thames Travel, and have hence been acquired by Go North East, to allow for the withdrawal of further Transbus Mini Pointer Darts from the fleet. This vehicle was new to, and previously with, Thames Travel in June 2013 as fleet number 721.
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May 2015
Go North East
Following a number of publicity events to promote the investment into new vehicles for services 8 and 78, this vehicle has entered service at Stanley Depot on "Coast & Country" services 8/78.
May 2007
Go North East
This vehicle has been repainted into a purple cream base livery, and has also received "The Drifter" branding, for services 60 (Sunderland - Seaham - Parkside) and 61 (Sunderland - Murton).
May 2012
Go North East
With the operation of "Silver Arrows" services 2A/2C transferring to Deptford Depot, this vehicle has also transferred from Washington Depot to Deptford.
May 2017
Go North East
Prior to returning to service, this vehicle has received Go North East's corporate livery. This example carries the tagline "Stay Connected | Many of our buses have free WiFi on board"
May 2015
Go North East
Following a number of publicity events to promote the investment into new vehicles for services 8 and 78, this vehicle has entered service at Chester-le-Street Depot on "Coast & Country" services 8/78.
May 2016
Go North East
This vehicle has entered service at Deptford Depot, on "Prince Bishops" services 20/20A/X20 (South Shields - Durham).