​Finding sources for 5217’s early life has proved rather difficult. It appears that prior to the launch of the Prince Bishops brand as part of Peter Huntley’s early attempts to individualize some key services in 2006, photographs of 5217 in service are hard to come by. A look in the fleet archive on the Go North East website confirms that she was new to South Shields depot alongside 5209 and 5212-5216, with the entry into the log suggesting this took place during the week of 14th January 2005. Only a couple of weeks following her delivery, the imminent closure
of the South Shields facility on 4th February 2005 saw her transfer to Deptford depot as part of the massive allocation changes and redistribution of vehicles that also saw 5207-5216 end up at Deptford. The introduction of the ‘Prince Bishop’s brand on services 20/20A/X20, operating
between Durham and Sunderland, saw 5217 receive a repaint into a purple base livery with the
original rendition of the branding applied on top.

5217 is dedicated to Chris Moyes, an original member of the Board of Directors of the company following the management buyout during the privatization of the National Bus Company. Moyes was awarded an OBE in 2006 for his contribution to the transport industry and was
Chairman of the Council of Durham University and Deputy Lieutenant of County Durham prior to his passing. 5217 participated in an event at Collingwood College, Durham, on 5 th December 2006 that supported Go North East’s ‘Reflections’ charity campaign following the application of memorial plaques. The plaque was unveiled in Moyes’ memory by his widow, Jan, and mother, Eileen, in tribute to St. Cuthbert’s Hospice who had cared for him towards the end of his life.

In late June 2016, following ten years of permanent allocation to the Durham-Sunderland corridor, and by this point, the extension of the route north from Sunderland to South Shields, 5217 was transferred to Chester-le-Street depot following the entry into service of brand new Wright StreetLites on the ‘Prince Bishops’.

With her removal from such a critical line of work, 5217 was repainted into the plain red corporate livery to reflect her now a secondary role in the fleet. A few months later in November 2016, 5217 received a partial repaint which saw the addition of non-metallic dark blue to her rear and a white slash separating that above the rear wheel arches from the contrasting red towards the front. 5217 would continue to see service at Chester-le-Street and occasional use at the Crook outpost until the cascading of 5232 (NK55 OLM) freed her for transfer to Riverside.

5217 saw out her days in the Go North East fleet here, acting as a spare vehicle and seeing allocation to a wide assortment of routes, juxtaposing
against her primary allocation to one key corridor for most of her working life. Her withdrawal in July 2019 enabled her to pass into our ownership for preservation and restoration to original condition as our first L94UB.

5217 (NK54 NVN), a Scania L94UB/Wright Solar new to Go North East in 2004, was acquired by the Northern National Restoration Group shortly after 4898 in the autumn of 2019. 5217 is of exceptional significance to us owing to her being the vehicle that sported commemorative
plates dedicated to Chris Moyes OBE DL (1949-2006), who helped sow the seeds for our group to flourish. Originally delivered in the standard red, blue and yellow fleet livery with headlights surrounded by yellow, her type standing out amongst other examples of the livery within the
fleet, as well as graffiti-moquette seating, it is intended that 5217 will be restored to her original condition.