Vehicle Details
Registration: YJ13 HNZ
Chassis: Optare Solo SR M890
Bodywork: Optare
Depot: Go South West
Livery: Little Coasters
Year new: 2013
Vehicle History
June 2020
Go North East
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
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.
July 2019
Go North East
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Following repaint, this vehicle has received "Little Coasters" branding.
July 2019
Go North East
As a result of recent service changes and consequent re-allocations, this vehicle has lost its "Wear Xpress" branding having been repainted into a new two-tone blue base livery.
May 2019
Go North East
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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 Peterlee Depot to Percy Main, in order to operate "Little Coasters" services 40/41/42.
January 2019
Go North East
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Following the end of the Arriva North East industrial action, this vehicle has transferred from Chester-le-Street Depot to Peterlee.
January 2019
Go North East
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Due to planned industrial action on Arriva North East's 'Durham County' services in Durham, Stockton and Redcar, Arriva are running a limited free-to-use service between January 6 and January 12 2019. As such, Go North East are operating duplicate X21 services between Bishop Auckland and Framwellgate Moor, via, Durham, and providing buses with a larger capacity on services X5, X6 and X7, which operate between Hartlepool, Peterlee and Sunderland. As such, this vehicle has transferred from Peterlee Depot to Chester-le-Street to operate service 36, in turn releasing a full-size single-deck to Peterlee to operate services X6/X7.
February 2017
Go North East
This vehicle has received "Wear Xpress" branding, with sub-branding for services X6 (Sunderland - Hartlepool) and X7 (Sunderland - Peterlee).
December 2016
Go North East
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Currently devoid of route branding, this vehicle has entered service at Peterlee Depot. It is in line to receive "Wear Xpress" branding, for the new X6/X7 services. From 4th December 2016, Go North East will be making some changes to services in the Peterlee area, which includes introducing some new-look limited stop services to improve links from the Peterlee area to Hartlepool, Dalton Park, Spectrum Business Park and Sunderland. The new-look X6 and X7 services will give two fast buses per hour on Monday to Saturday daytimes between Peterlee Bus Station, Spectrum Business Park, Seaham and Sunderland City Centre. The new X6 service will also serve Dalton Park. To the south of Peterlee, the new X6 service will now run to Hartlepool, creating new links from Hartlepool, Blackhall and Horden to East Durham College, Dalton Park, Spectrum Business Park and Sunderland. Go North East will also be creating new local links around Peterlee, as the revised X7 route will also now include Grampian Drive, Pennine Drive, Durham Way and the Oakerside area of Peterlee. This provides a new fast link to Sunderland from these areas.
November 2016
Go North East
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This vehicle has been repainted into a plain plum base livery.
November 2016
Go North East
Prior to entering service, this vehicle has been fitted with free customer Wi-Fi.
November 2016
Go North East
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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 719.
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May 2015
Go North East
This vehicle has entered service at Riverside Depot on "Red Kite" service 47 (Newcastle - Blackhall Mill).
May 2017
Go North East
This vehicle has received the tagline "Our buses run 35 million miles a year - that's like going to the moon and back 72 times"
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 2015
Go North East
Ahead of its entry into service, this vehicle has been branded as "Red Kite", with sub-branding for services 45/46.
May 2016
Go North East
Following temporary loan to Chester-le-Street Depot, this vehicle has returned to service at Stanley.