Stagecoach Manchester

[ace]

RE: Stagecoach Manchester

(13/03/2014 15:28)33109 Wrote:  How long have the following got left I wonder:

2X optare spectra double deckers
The dennis trident ALX400 deckers
Any remaining olympians
The oldish darts
MAN 18220 ALX 300s

Some of the ALX300 lot are getting particularly old now, especially the S reg examples. Thought stagecoach would've seen em all of by now & replaced by the enviro 200 darts I.E. 36104 & friends.

All of these are slowly but surely disappearing from Manchester.
I would be surprised if the Spectras were still on the road in Manchester 12 months from now to be honest. They are already older than a good few taken out of front line service.
The current fleet of tridents is slowly diminishing. Odd ones have been cascaded, though barring accidents it'll be a while before they are disposed of yet. By the end of 2016 at the latest all the current none DDA ones will be gone.
The remaining Olympians are rarely used for public service now and are fast approaching the end of their lives. Another 12 months should see them disappear also.
Given that the 04 reg darts have been put in reserve, it is clear there is no place for them in Manchester anymore, so the likelihood is they will be cascaded fairly soon.
As for the MAN ALX 300's, they'll run until they drop in Manchester, though if they are not DDA compliant they would have to be withdrawn at the end of 2016.