Key bus services in County Durham will be withdrawn and revised as part of timetable changes this weekend.

Several Arriva routes will change on Sunday (April 2) as the bus operator’s new timetables come into effect. While some routes will be revised to a different time frequency some services are being scrapped altogether. 

The Durham to Hartlepool services operated by Arriva, on behalf of Durham County Council, will be withdrawn. Meanwhile, early morning services between Easington and Hartlepool will be withdrawn due to low demand. 

The changes come amid growing frustration around the local transport network, with people missing hospital appointments, turning up late to work and having to change jobs. 

Residents in County Durham say they have been left isolated over a continuous stream of cancellations, as data revealed more than one in five people across the North of England are at risk of being excluded from society due to public transport woes. 

The County Durham Arriva timetable changes in full: 

 

Service 23 Sunderland to Hartlepool
The 0559 Monday to Friday and 0657 Saturday journeys from Easington to Hartlepool will be withdrawn due to low demand.

Services 49/49A Durham to Brandon
As we continue to map service level with demand, Services 49/49A will be revised to operate to a 20-minute frequency of service during Monday to Saturday daytimes, with two buses per hour operating as Service 49 and one per hour as Service 49A. Evening and Sunday times are unchanged and will continue to operate as they do now.

Service 56 Durham to Bishop Auckland
Most Monday to Saturday daytime journeys will be revised to operate up to 5 minutes later than at present. There are no changes to evenings and Sundays.

Services 57/57A/58 Durham to Hartlepool
Services 57/57A operated by Arriva, on behalf of Durham County Council, will regrettably be withdrawn.

Service 58 - will be extended to operate all day, instead of just evenings and Sundays as it does now. This revised Service 58 arrangement will therefore continue to provide an hourly service between Durham and Hartlepool, via Bowburn Estate, Coxhoe, Kelloe, Quarrington Hill, Cassop, Thornley, Wheatley Hill, Wingate, and Station Town. Buses will operate this route all day Monday to Saturday but will terminate at Wheatley Hill or Station Town on a Sunday.

Service 57A -  Durham County Council is currently in the process of introducing a new Service 59 that will provide direct links to Hartlepool and connection links with Service 58 at Kelloe or Coxhoe. We will update this information as soon we have confirmed details, but this service will not be operated by Arriva. There will be through ticketing acceptance for passengers intending to travel into Durham, however. 

Service X12 Middlesbrough to Newcastle
A revised route will be in place locally within Teesside Park in Stockton, following concerns around congestion and park access. In addition, with the forthcoming changes to Service 57/57A/58, Service X12 will be revised to serve all stops between Coxhoe and Durham City Centre.

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A spokeswoman for Arriva said: “Service 57/57A are not wholly commercial services for Arriva, we receiving a level of financial support for the routes and this permits route extensions to the service (from Kelloe to Hartlepool)

“This current funding support ends on 1 April 2023 and due to our declining driver availability in the area, we gave advanced notice to Durham County Council of our intention to no longer extend the contract - instead committing our efforts into stabilisation of our core network through a reduction in some services.

“This advance notice was also designed to give Durham County Council the opportunity to find a replacement operator for these services. Due to the current public transport climate however, Durham County Council have been unable to find an operator to replace service operation, in full.

“As a result, and to avoid a complete withdrawal of service, Arriva has worked closely with Durham County Council to ensure that the majority of Service 57 will be replaced (by our new service 58). Durham County Council are arranging a replacement for Service 57A. We understand that this arrangement is not permanent and will be reviewed once driver resource stabilises and operator availability improves across the region.”