I suppose now that we’re into 2024 it’s maybe worth starting to explore the delivery of the BZL’s. I was told to expect them to be delivered from April with an entry to service likely in May. It will be interesting to see how close that is.
To confirm it was supposed to be 25 buses that are 24 plates, followed by another 25 that are 74 plates towards the end of the year? I think we’d all love to see 997 back and join the fleet proper, but I do think that is unlikely to happen.
I know the routes previously which were all but confirmed and they were 1, 8, 9, 10, 23 and 24. However there are still enough buses to probably convert the 7 and 15 as well if you factor in the use of 291-294 in this mix. For reference I don’t believe any of the other Central routes will receive any of these first 50. The only one worth a look realistically would be the 27.
Given 997’s fairly extensive use on the 8 and 9, I’d be surprised if it didn’t receive them first. Perhaps alongside the 23 and 24; use of 291-294 again included.
We know it is likely 1141-1151 that are first to go, so I would expect to see a comparable number of buses transfer to Longstone to replace these, such as 426-437? Central will surely lose the likes of 466-468 and also 1000. I imagine the majority of the rest of the buses lost from the initial batch will be some mmc’s as the 8/9 use a large proportion of these. Central could also lose some single decks instead of the mmc’s if it doesn’t pick up any extra work resulting from the conversion of the 1 to double decks.
Transfers as a result of the second batch are probably dependent on where the fleet is after a service change too, so I think that’s too far away to judge.
Just curious to see everyone’s thoughts on this.