With the Arriva Scotland West franchise sold to independent operator McGills the refurbished Plaxton Pointers for the 26 service were no longer required and McGills rejected them. Therefore they were purchased by Arriva North East and a few are now at depots across the North East, most notably Darlington. They are ex London Plaxton Pointers that have had their centre door removed rather crudely, new seating moquettes and new floors applied and yellow painted handrails. Out of the 8 that have arrived Durham depot have gained 1501 X475 GGO and 1502 X478 GGO. Both have been in use for approximately a week operating primarily on the 63 and 64. After experiencing 1502 it is in an average condition with surprisingly very little idling when stationary. Although the breaks are rather loud and it is painfully slow so no wonder it was 10 minutes late after coping with Canterbury Road bank! Another problem is that it is rather jerky when changing gear but I suppose that’s what you get when purchasing ex London stock. On the plus side they don’t have bench seats unlike the S-KHN Darts that left not long ago. Also of note X475 GGO only wears the Arriva swirl on the front giving it an odd appearance. Below is X478 GGO in use on the 64 still wearing a Ryan Air advert from Glasgow Prestwick Airport.
No surprise here but also on the 63 and 64 were Boneshakers 1 and 2 (Y258 KNB and Y295 KNB).
DAF DB250 / East Lancs Lowlander 7441 Y691 EBR was also in use today.
Meanwhile on the 43, OmniCity 4657 was in use and is seen turning out of the bus station onto North Road heading to Esh Winning.
OmniCity 4656 was also in use but developed a door fault so is seen heading back to depot where Pulsar 1419 NK09 EJJ took its place.
Finally, currently under repair is Solo 2814 YK08 ETJ, Lowlander 7444, Prestige 4066 and OmniCity 4664.
The Durham Bus Stop 
Does these buses stay outside when not in use of in the garag
By: Philip Patterson on March 16, 2013
at 8:13 pm