History of 3814

Volvo Olympian/Northern Counties Palatine 2 S814 FVK was new to Go Coastline’s South Shields depot as fleet number 3814. The Fleet Engineer of Coastline and VFM, James Heel, hailed these buses as some of the best that Volvo produced. 3814 and her sisters saw primary use on the 527 service between Newcastle and South Shields.

They were the final high-floor double deck buses bought by Go North East, with new low-floor buses becoming standard. Upon the closure of South Shields in 2002, 3814 was transferred to Bishop Auckland and saw use on the network of local routes, many of which no longer operate. When Bishop Auckland closed in 2006, she was moved to Sunderland Road. In 2008, she was repainted from the red, blue and yellow corporate livery into the ‘Yellow Bus’ livery that she continues to sport a variant of to this day. She also saw use at Percy Main from 2010 to 2012.

In 2012, she was transferred to her final depot of Stanley, her home until her withdrawal on 12th December 2016, just weeks ahead of the DDA deadline for step-entrance double deck vehicles to cease operating in public service. A trio of Olympians were retained at Gateshead Riverside for use on a private school contract. Of the five depots she was allocated to, only Percy Main remains in use.

Following withdrawal from the fleet, 3814 was donated to the North East Electric Traction Trust at their base at the North East Land Sea & Air Museum. At the time of her acquisition members of the NEETT had completely refurbished the interior and had made a start on the bodywork. They have done a commendable job on keeping her presentable. We were approached in June 2021 with a view to take on 3814 for further restoration. After several years of inactivity, 3814 had developed a number of mechanical issues which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The incurred faults will be rectified by the NNRG.

Our trustees are very happy that the NEETT have chosen us to continue with the work they started. We will endeavour to get this bus back up and running and hope that it will become an asset to the local rally network; we consider 3814 to be a very important addition to our fleet. In addition to being our first double-deck, her service at Bishop Auckland depot, a depot that some of our trustees and members hold a close affinity to, allows us a connection to this historic depot.

Craig Smith Chairman, NNRG