LATE NEWS
Go North East has become the first UK customer for the higher-powered version of the Wright StreetDeck, ordering 31 alongside its first 14 Alexander Dennis products for 15 years.
In an order announced as we closed for press on 10 June, it is taking the long wheelbase StreetDecks, with six-cylinder Mercedes-Benz OM936 engine, for operation on Xlines branded services linking West Derwentside with Newcastle and Gateshead.
Wrightbus first adopted the bigger engine to provide the power required in export markets like Hong Kong where doubledeckers have air-conditioning.
But it acknowledges that it also meets the expectations of operators on interurban routes who may have considered the standard specification fourcylinder OM934 to be inadequate outside heavily built-up urban areas with slow traffic speeds.
They will operate alongside three Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMCs, which also are being bought for these Xlines routes, while 11 Enviro200 MMC single-deckers have been ordered for its services in and around Gateshead.
