GNE originally ordered the ELC Lolynes for the 301 & 305. It was around 2002 however when 3828-31 ended up replacing Optare Spectras on the X10, the Lolynes were taken off the 305 (I think just replaced with Excels) and re-allocated to the 308.IIRC in the mid to late 90s Go North Easts North Tyneside division “Coastline” were making more of an effort putting the new vehicles on their own 300 / 305 routes moving them over to being Easy Access with Excels. Then they started messing about with the routes themselves (merging / splitting the 300 with the North Shields Town Services and the 305 being pruned back to just Newcastle to Hadrian Park then being thrown in with a varying route number or joined into a new brand every couple of years).
Go North Easts distain for the 308 showed in later years when their services were moved to the “Bargain Bus” brand before selling the Ashington depot (which they gained from buying Northumbria Coaches) in 2010 to Arriva and thus the 308 went to 100% Arriva.
That being said on the Arriva side the Cityzens and the ex 602 Olympians were comfortable for the 308 but after that it took a bit of a dive for a while
As always I’m possibly completely wrong
In 2008, Arriva took 'full' control of the main 308 just after ordering 6x ADL E400s (3x short of then PVR) but GNE ran a competing Bargain Bus 308 alongside their then newly launched Cobalt Clipper 309 (now Cobalt & Coast).
An interesting fact about the Volvo Olympian allocation on the 308 however is that it meant the full Coast Road corridor was using the same vehicle types at the time around 2000/01.
Arriva 306 - P4** CCU - Volvo D10-245
Arriva 308 - M3** FTY - Cummins L10
Go Coastline 308 - S8** OFT - Volvo D10-245
Likewise in 2003 when the ex Hexham Tridents ended up on the 308, GNE & Arriva were then technically using the same vehicle types abeit with different bodywork (ELC vs Alexander) and gearboxes (Voith vs ZF)
The Tridents weren't great. I only ever rode them on the 308 when at Blyth and 306 when later at Jesmond (after Blyth got Lowlanders).Even then, it doesn't tell the whole story
The ex Merseyside Olympians that Arriva used were horrendous with water ingress making them so damp smelling, Arriva put air fresheners under the seats, the Arriva Tridents were so slow they struggled to keep time, and the Lowlanders had Urban 90 seats with no comfort.
The Go Ahead fleet was generally much better in terms of presentation and comfort.
My first sighting of one on the 602 was one broken down near the Redheugh Bridge.
And when they were at Jesmond, they were never used on Evenings & Sundays with either Volvo B10BLEs allocated instead or if a decker was needed (Christmas shoppers, matchdays etc), it would be a Volvo Olympian Palatine II