The final list of Go North East services being cut in County Durham

The major bus operator has unveiled a long list of services it plans to either withdraw or reduce due to the "financial costs" facing the company.

These changes, which will come into force from July 24, were announced as part of a restructuring from Go North East and comes after an in-depth public consultation that it has undertaken.

Read more: Go North East announce ticket hike on buses in Durham and Tyne & Wear

A spokesperson for Go North East said: “The number of people returning to places of work and needing to travel has and continues to change as a result of the pandemic, affecting both the demand for our services, and where and when we see congestion on our road network.

“In May, we held a customer consultation, which attracted almost 9,000 responses.

“This feedback has helped to shape our revised network, with some changes made to the original proposals, including many lifeline bus services being saved, such as services 25, 28/28A, 29, 30/31 and 82, following thorough discussions with local authorities.

Here’s all of the changes announced by Go North East:

Coaster 1

Go North East will introduce more frequent buses on an evening between Newcastle and Whitley Bay, now running up to every 30 minutes.

Sunderland and District Berries 2 & 2A

Due to low demand, services 2/2A will be revised to operate every 60 minutes on an evening between Washington and Silksworth, and every 30 minutes on Sunday daytimes.

The late evening journeys between Biddick and Washington Galleries on service 2A will continue to operate.

Connections 4

Buses will be revised to run up to every 15 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes on Sunday daytimes.

On evenings after 9pm, buses will be revised to run every 30 minutes between Heworth and The Galleries, and every 60 minutes beyond The Galleries to Houghton-le-Spring.

East Gateshead Rider service 58 will be extended from Heworth to Follingsby and Amazon, providing a bus up to every seven minutes between these points. This also means there will be a direct bus from Amazon to Gateshead and Newcastle.

Service 5

This service will be re-routed to operate via Calf Close Lane instead of Kirkstone Avenue. Kirkstone Avenue will be served by service 26 instead.

Following contract changes, journeys on a Sunday daytime will now run as service 5A. These journeys will additionally run via East Boldon and Cleadon Village between Whiteleas Shops and Boldon ASDA, replacing Nexus service 558 which will be withdrawn on a Sunday.

 

Country Ranger 8 & 8A

This service will be diverted to operate via Teal Farm all day, instead of only on evenings.

This service will no longer run via Brady Square, which will instead be served by the revised Little Pinks 84 and 85 services.

Evening and Sunday journeys will operate between Chester-le-Street and Stanley only.

To replace service 8 between Sunderland and Washington Galleries on Sundays, a new 81 service will be introduced.

Service 9

Due to low demand, the frequency of this service on an evening from around 7pm will be revised to be hourly.

Tyne Valley 10

There will be some small changes to the timetable of this service, but the service will continue to run the same route and at the same frequency as now.

Services 12 & 12A

This service will be revised to operate every 20 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes, with all journeys operating via Shibdon Bank and Parkhead Estate in Winlaton.

From Parkhead Estate, the service will operate to Winlaton Bus Station via North Street, Heddon View and Wylam View.

Journeys towards Newcastle from Winlaton Bus Station will operate via Hanover Estate, Parkhead Estate and Shibdon Bank.

Buses will serve Newcastle Business Park at peak times only, operating direct along Scotswood Road at other times to speed up journey times into Newcastle.

Buses on evenings and Sundays will be revised to operate on an hourly frequency, due to the lower numbers of passengers travelling at these times.

Durham Diamond 16 & 16A

Buses on a Sunday will be revised to operate as service 16B, which will serve both South Stanley and South Moor, running every 60 minutes.

In addition, following feedback, the service will be revised to operate the full length of Consett Front Street to Puddler’s Corner, improving access to local facilities.

From there, the service will operate to Hownsgill Industrial Estate instead of Genesis Way.

Templetown will continue to be served by service X45.

Prince Bishops 20

This service will be revised to be split into two different services at Sunderland.

The northern section of the route between Sunderland, Cleadon, Harton Nook and South Shields will operate as service 24. This will continue to run every 15 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes on Sunday daytimes, with evening frequency reduced to hourly.

The southern section of route between Sunderland, Houghton-le-Spring, The Raintons and Durham will continue to operate as service 20 every 15 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes on evenings and Sundays.

Late evening journeys will operate hourly and no longer serve Doxford International due to low demand.

In Sunderland City Centre, service 20 will operate to Burdon Road, via Park Lsne Interchange and Holmeside, to maintain connections to the eastern part of Sunderland City Centre.

Angel 21 & N21

The frequency of this service will be reduced to every 15 minutes on Sunday daytimes, to better match the number of customers travelling at this time.

Last year, Go North East extended the operation of the Night Bus N21 service to be daily, but due to low passenger numbers, this service will return to its previous (pre-Covid) timetable, only running on Friday night/Saturday morning and Saturday night/Sunday morning, due to low passenger numbers on other days of the week.

Service 25

This service will be revised to operate hourly, between Newcastle and Chester-le-Street only.

The service between Chester-le-Street and Langley Park will now run as service 725 and be operated by another bus company in partnership with Durham County Council.

Services 28, 28A, 28B & 29

Service 28 will continue to operate as now, running hourly between Newcastle, Gateshead, Wrekenton, Birtley, Ouston, Beamish, Grange Villa, Pelton Fell and Chester-le-Street, seven days a week.

Service 28A will be withdrawn and replaced by an improved service 29, which will run hourly between Newcastle, Gateshead, Kibblesworth, Ouston, Beamish, Grange Villa, Pelton Fell and Chester-le-Street, on Monday to Saturday daytimes.

Service 28B will continue to operate on evenings and Sundays as now, when service 29 does not operate.

Services 30 & 31

Durham County Council has agreed to provide financial support for these services to continue running, but these services will now be provided by another bus company.

Service 34

This service will return to the route it used to operate, prior to the service changes in September 2021.

This means that service 34 will no longer serve Pelton Front Street, and will now serve Pelaw Estate again.

Sunderland District Cherry 35 & 35A

 

This service will be revised so that buses no longer operate via Rainton Bridge, instead running direct between Hetton Downs and Houghton-le-Spring, providing faster journey times towards Houghton-le-Spring and Sunderland for customers travelling from Low Moorsley and Hetton-le-Hole. Service X20 continues to provide connections to Rainton Bridge, running up to every 30 minutes.

Buses will continue to run between Town End Farm and Boldon, and Monday to Saturday daytime journeys will additionally operate via Cotswolds Estate in Boldon to provide improved connections

Service 35A, operating on evenings and Sundays, will no longer run between Heworth Interchange and Boldon, and the rest of the route is revised to operate hourly due to lower demand.

Sunderland District Blonde 38, 38A and 38C

Service 38 will be revised to operate between City Centre and The Docks only, operating hourly.

Services to Ashbrooke are maintained on Monday to Saturday daytimes by Stagecoach service 12, and on evenings and Sundays by new service 61A.

Services to Leechmere and the western side of Hollycarrside are maintained on Monday to Saturday daytimes by service 2A, with services 2 and 61A providing links close by on evenings and Sundays.

In partnership with Nexus, we will introduce a new 39B route to serve Tunstall Bank Estate. This will maintain a direct link to Sunderland City Centre, and offer new, direct links to Doxford Park, Shiney Row and Washington Galleries.

Sunderland District Graphite 39, 39A & NEW 39B

This service will continue to run between Pennywell, Sunderland City Centre and Doxford International every 15 minutes:

Once per hour as service 39, operating the same route as now

Twice per hour as service 39A, revised to operate via Burdon Lane, omitting Nelson Street, providing a more direct journey.

Once per hour as new service 39B, operating via Tunstall Bank Estate to replace service 38.

Most journeys on service 39A will extend from Doxford International to Houghton-le-Spring, replacing service 55 which will be withdrawn.

The new 39B service will operate once per hour, and from Doxford International will extend to Washington Galleries – offering new, direct links to East Herrington, Herrington Burn, Biddick Woods and Washington Galleries.

Saturday daytime journeys are revised to operate every 30 minutes (once per hour as service 39A, once per hour as service 39B), with Sunday and evening services from 21:00 operating every 60 minutes (all as service 39A), due to lower demand.

Services 41 & 41A

In partnership with Nexus, Go North East will extend service 41 from Hadrian Park to Howdon, creating new direct links.

Red Kite Ranger 47 & 47A

These services will be standardised to all run as service 47, with service 47A withdrawn.

The route of this service will remain unchanged between Newcastle and Ebchester, although buses will now run non-stop between Newcastle and Metrocentre, to speed up journey times.

From Ebchester, services will operate via East Law, Bridgehill, Genesis Way and Front Street to Consett, replacing service X46 which has been withdrawn.

From Consett Bus Station, the service will continue to Shotley Bridge Hospital via Number One, maintaining connections to the hospital as well as local links around Consett and Shotley Bridge

The service will continue to operate up to every 30 minutes on daytimes, and on evenings and Sundays the service will now run every 60 minutes to better match demand.

The section of route through Medomsley and Leadgate will be replaced by the new V5 service, which will run between Crookhall, Consett, Leadgate, Medomsley and The Dene, every hour.

Services 49 & 49A

This service will be revised to operate every 20 minutes on Sundays – two buses per hour as service 49, and one bus per hour as service 49A.

A small number of early morning journeys will also be revised to run at different times.

Service 50

The route of this service will be revised between Washington and Chester-le-Street, with journeys now running via Lambton, Fulmar Drive in Ayton, Harraton, Rickleton and Picktree Village. Times will be better coordinated with service 8 through Harraton and Rickleton.

Due to low usage, the late evening journeys Go North East recently introduced for shift workers at 23:37 and 00:37 from Concord will be withdrawn.

On Sundays, the operator will also extend service 50 from South Shields Interchange to Marsden Bay, operating via Pier Head, Sea Road and the Coast Road.

East Gateshead Orbit 51 & 52

Some early morning journeys on these services will be withdrawn due to low passenger numbers. To better match demand, the frequency on an evening will be revised to hourly after 19:30, and the Sunday daytime frequency will be revised to every 30 minutes.

VOLTRA 53 & 54

Due to low passenger numbers and to improve reliability with reduced journey times, these services will no longer operate via Sage Gateshead turning circle, except in cases of high demand for special events. Passengers can still access the Sage from bus stops on Hawks Road and Hillgate Quay, or by walking to other services from bus stops on Askew Road and Wellington Street.

To better match demand, the frequency of this service on an evening from around 20:30 will be reduced to operate every 40 minutes.

Sunderland District Violet 55

This service does not have enough passengers travelling to cover the costs of operation, meaning that it is no longer viable to keep this service running.

The following alternatives are available:

Between Peterlee, Easington Village, South Hetton, Easington Lane, Hetton le Hole, and Houghton le Spring, X-lines X1 operates twice per hour on Monday to Saturday daytimes and once per hour on Sundays.

Between Houghton-le-Spring and Sunderland, Prince Bishops 20 and X-lines X20 provide a regular service.

Between Sunderland and Doxford International, X-lines X20 will divert via Doxford at peak times, with Sunderland District Graphite 39, 39A and 39B providing the connection at other times of the day.

Between Houghton-le-Spring and Doxford International, service 39A will provide a connection once per hour. This service then allows connections onto other services at Houghton-le-Spring for onward journeys.

Cityrider 56

A small number of early morning and night journeys on this service will be withdrawn due to the lower numbers of passengers travelling at these times, and journeys on an evening from around 20:00 will operate via Beacon Lough to replace service 57.

Service 57

Due to the lower numbers of passengers travelling; a small number of early morning journeys will be withdrawn, the Sunday daytime frequency of this service will be reduced to every 30 minutes (but co-ordinated with service 58 to provide a service every 15 minutes between Heworth and Leam Lane), and evening journeys after 20:00 will run between Heworth and Wardley only.

Service 56 will additionally serve Beacon Lough Estate to maintain a service to this area at the times when service 57 does not run. Customers travelling to Leam Lane Estate can instead use service 58.

East Gateshead Rider 58

This service will be extended to Follingsby, providing a service up to every 7 minutes together with service 4 between Heworth, Lingey Lane and Follingsby.

At Amazon shift change times, some new journeys will be added as service X58 to provide a more direct link between Follingsby, Gateshead and Newcastle City Centre

Sunday daytime frequency revised to every 30 minutes, continuing to coordinate with service 57 to provide a service every 15 minutes between Heworth and Leam Lane, and coordinate with service 51/52 to provide a service every 15 minutes between Gateshead and Deckham.

Service 61 & NEW 61A

This service will be revised to operate every 30 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes, and every 60 minutes on Sundays.

Working in partnership with Durham County Council, Go North East have confirmed that once per hour, service 61 will be extended from Murton to Peterlee, replacing service 62 which will be withdrawn. These journeys will serve Wembley Estate.

On evenings and Sundays, a new 61A service will be introduced running via Ashbrooke, Tunstall Road and Toll Bar Road, re-joining the normal route of service 61 at Toll Bar Road/Ryhope Road. This will maintain a service to this area following the withdrawal of service 38C, at times when Stagecoach service 12 does not operate.

Peterlee Purples 62 & 62A

There aren't enough customers to cover the costs of running services 62, so this service will be withdrawn. There will be a loss of service on Sea View, but other options are available to customers on alternative services within a walking distance of 400m, including services 22, 23, 39/39A/39B, 60 and 61 from Ryhope Village.

Service 62A will continue to operate as now but will be re-numbered service 208.

East Durham Explorer 65

There aren’t enough customers to cover the running costs at these times, and evening journeys after 20:30 will be withdrawn.

There will also be some changes to the frequency of this service at weekends to better match demand:

On Saturdays from 16:00, the service will be revised to operate every 60 minutes. At the busiest times (approximately 10am – 3pm), the service will continue to run every 30 minutes as it does now.

On Sunday daytimes, the service will be revised to operate once every two hours.

Service 74

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

Country Ranger 78

This service will return to the route it used to operate, prior to the service changes in September 2021.

This means that service 78 will no longer run via Pelton Fell (which will instead be served by the improved 28 and 29 services), serving Pelton instead.

It also means that the service will now terminate at Consett Bus Station, no longer running to Castleside (which will instead by served by X-lines services X5/X15, due to customers in this area requesting a direct link to Durham).

Little Pinks 82

This service does not have enough passengers travelling to cover the costs of operation, and will be withdrawn.

Nexus will provide a replacement 82/82A service, providing links between Birtley and Barmston Court on a Monday to Saturday daytime, each operating on an hourly basis providing a combined frequency of every 30 minutes.

This service will be operated by another bus company in partnership with Durham County Council.

Little Pinks 84 & 85

 

These services will be revised to operate circular routes around Washington.

They will continue to operate every 20 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes between Concord, Peel, Barmston and Galleries, and will additionally serve Brady Square to replace service 8. They would then extend across Galleries to Oxclose and Blackfell, before returning to Concord.

Service 84 will operate clockwise and service 85 anti-clockwise.

The section of route between Galleries, Ayton and Rickleton would no longer be part of service 84, but other buses operate in these areas:

Lambton would continue to be served by services 2 and 50

Ayton with revised service 50

Rickleton and Harraton by services 8 and revised service 50

East Gateshead Loop 93 & 94

A small number of morning journeys will be cancelled due to low demand.

Green Arrow 96

A small number of early morning journeys on this service will be cancelled due to low use, and the frequency of this service on a Sunday daytime will be revised to be hourly.

Green Arrow 97

A small number of early morning journeys on this service will be cancelled due to low use.

Services 135 & 136

Go North East’s contract to operate these services on behalf of Nexus has been extended by a year, and they have asked us to introduce some minor changes to the timetable as a result.

Some early morning journeys are revised or cancelled due to low passenger numbers. The journeys on a morning which remain will be re-numbered to 935.

Tynedale Links 185

Northumberland County Council has cancelled this service, and it will be replaced by a revised service 681.

Tynedale Links 680

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

Tynedale Links 681

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

This service will be extended from Haltwhistle to Birdoswald via Gilsland to replace service 185, and as a consequence there will be a revised timetable on this service.

Tynedale Links 683

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

Tynedale Links 684

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

Northumberland County Council has requested that we introduce some minor changes to the timetable as a result, but the route will remain unchanged.

Northumberland County Council has also requested that the fares on this service are revised, and adult single and return tickets will increase by up to £1.

Tynedale Links 686

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

Tynedale Links 687

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

Tynedale Links 688

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

Tynedale Links 689

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

Service 734

Service 34 will return to the route it used to operate, prior to the service changes in September 2021.

This means that service 34 will serve Pelaw Estate again, meaning that service 734 can be withdrawn.

Hadrian’s Wall Country Bus AD122 & X122

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

Following discussions with Northumberland County Council; due to low passenger numbers compared to pre-Covid levels, service AD122 will be revised to operate every two hours between Hexham and Haltwhistle, but with all journeys following a standard route including Housesteads, Vindolanda, Walltown and Greenhead, providing a more consistent service and understandable timetable which will run all year round.

Due to low passenger numbers, service X122 will be withdrawn.

Quaycity Q3

Following discussions with Great Park, the route will be revised to operate clockwise and anti-clockwise loops around Great Park to improve access to local facilities. Because of this, services will be given new numbers QA and QB to signify which way around the loop they operate.

Go North East has also announced that, following the changes made to this service in March 2022 to curtail the service at St Peter’s Basin, we will work in partnership with Nexus to restore the link to Wallsend from 24 July. The service will extend from St Peter’s Basin to Walker and Wallsend every 30 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes.

Venture V1 & V2

This service will be revised to operate every 20 minutes.

Service V2 will no longer serve Crookhall. This area will served by an hourly V5 service instead.

A new Sunday service will be introduced on service V1, operating every hour between approximately 9:30am and 6:30pm.

Venture V3

Service V3 does not have enough passengers travelling to cover the costs of operation, and will be withdrawn.

Links between Consett Town Centre and Shotley Bridge Hospital will be provided by a revised service 47.

Links between Consett Town Centre, Medomsley and The Dene will be provided by a new service V5.

Venture V5

This new service will be introduced, in partnership with Durham County Council.

It will run from The Dene to Crookhall, via Medomsley, Leadgate and Consett Town Centre, on an hourly frequency.

A Sunday service will also be introduced between Consett and The Dene, operating every hour between approximately 9:00am and 6:00pm.

X-lines X5 & X15

Following customer feedback that service 78 did not run reliably and that customers would prefer a direct link to Lanchester and Durham rather than Stanley, Chester-le-Street and Sunderland, Go North East has confirmed that services X5/X15 will be extended from Consett to serve Castleside instead of Shotley Bridge.

This service will continue to operate every 30 minutes between Durham, Lanchester and Consett.

Customers travelling to Bridgehill or Shotley Bridge Hospital can continue to do so on revised service 47 from Consett.

The X15 service on Sundays will be operated by another bus company in partnership with Durham County Council, as we have sadly lost the contract to operate these journeys.

X-lines X10

Due to low demand, this service will be revised to operate once every two hours between Middlesbrough and Peterlee on Sundays. The service will remain at an hourly frequency between Newcastle and Peterlee, where journeys are busier.

X-lines X20

On Sundays, this service will be revised to operate between Langley Park and Durham only. Customers can still travel between Durham, Houghton-le-Spring and Sunderland on Prince Bishops 20.

In addition; on weekdays, some journeys at peak times will operate via Doxford International, continuing to provide quick links to Sunderland City Centre following the withdrawal of service 55.

X-lines X21

This service will be revised to terminate at West Auckland Club instead of Eden Garage. As such, there will be some minor changes to the timetable.

Metrocentre Express X22

Due to staffing challenges, we temporarily suspended service X22 in January 2022.

Go North East have reviewed the cost of operation against the number of passengers which used to travel on this service, and there are not enough passengers travelling to cover the costs of operation.

X-lines X30 & X31

This service will be revised to operate every 30 minutes on Monday to Saturday daytimes, once per hour as service X30 and once per hour as service X31.

At peak times there will continue to be a bus every 20 minutes.

Evening journeys will be revised to operate every 90 minutes.

X-lines X45 & X46

Service X46 does not have enough passengers travelling to cover the costs of operation, and as such this service will be withdrawn.

Service X45 will continue to operate every 30 minutes between Consett and Newcastle, co-ordinating with Red Kite Ranger 47 between Rowlands Gill and Newcastle to provide a bus every 15 minutes on this section of route.

Customers travelling from Bridgehill will still be able to travel to Consett and Newcastle on Red Kite Ranger 47, which would now see all journeys running via Bridgehill, providing a service up to every 30 minutes.

In Consett, service X45 will also extend from Consett Bus Station to Hownsgill via Templetown.

Peterlee Purples X62

This service will now be operated by another bus company in partnership with Durham County Council.

X-lines X70, X71 & X72

Service X70 does not have enough passengers travelling to cover the costs of operation, and will be withdrawn.

Services X71 and X72 will continue to operate, with minor timetable changes.

On evenings and Sundays, the X72 service will no longer run via Lobley Hill Estate, instead running direct on Lobley Hill Bank.

Tynedale Links X81

Northumberland County Council has cancelled this service due to low passenger numbers.

Tynedale Links X85

Go North East’s contract with Northumberland County Council to operate this service has been extended by a year, to July 2023.

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