Network One zones simplified from 19 May 2024
2 years ago
From Sunday 19 May there will be some changes to Network One ticket zones. These changes will result in a simpler zone structure and cheaper tickets for people in some parts of Tyne and Wear.
These changes will affect zones two, three, four and five, in Sunderland, Washington, Houghton-le-Spring and South Tyneside.
From this date, the current Zones 4 and 5 will be merged into a new Zone 4 covering most of the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough. Part of the existing Zone 3, covering Washington, will also become part of the new Zone 4, and The Boldons will move from Zone 3 to Zone 2.
Customers affected by these zone changes who have bought tickets on the Go North East app will have a 30-day grace period (up to the 17th June) during which they will need to activate and use their tickets.
These changes affect all week, month and annual ticket types for both Network One’s adult and student ticket range.
Network One tickets allow travel on all local buses in Tyne & Wear, regardless of bus operator, plus travel on the Tyne & Wear Metro, Shields Ferry, and Northern Rail services between Sunderland, Newcastle and Blaydon.
The new zone map is shown below, and a table below shows how the zones will change.
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Current Zones |
Change |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
Further detail is provided below which explains the changes for different zones and zone combinations.
I currently buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 1 only
You do not need to do anything as Zone 1 is not changing. You can continue to buy and use a Zone 1 ticket as you do now.
I currently buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 2 only
You do not need to do anything as Zone 2 is being extended rather than reduced. You can continue to buy and use a Zone 2 ticket as you do now; you will now be able to travel slightly further with your ticket as Zone 2 will also include The Boldons.
I currently buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 3 only
If you use your Zone 3 ticket to travel in North Tyneside, the outer west of Newcastle (i.e. Throckley and Newburn), or western Gateshead (i.e. Sunniside, Chopwell, Ryton), you do not need to do anything as these parts of Zone 3 are not changing.
If you use your Zone 3 ticket to travel in South Tyneside only as far as either South Leam estate or Whiteleas Estate (from within South Shields), you do not need to do anything as these parts of Zone 3 are not changing.
If you use your Zone 3 ticket to travel in Washington or between Washington and South Tyneside, you will need to buy a different ticket from the 19th May. If you travel only within Washington , you will need to buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 4. If you travel between Washington and South Tyneside you will need to buy an all zones ticket if you wish to travel using service 50 as this service will now pass through Zone 2 (Boldon). If you travel between Washington and South Tyneside only via Sunderland city centre, then you will need a two zone ticket valid in Zone 3 and Zone 4.
If you are only travelling on Go North East buses, it may be cheaper for you to buy a Go North East Tyne & Wear ticket.
If you use your Zone 3 ticket to travel between Kibblesworth, Birtley or Barley Mow and Washington, you will need to buy a different ticket from the 19th May. You will need to buy a two zone ticket valid in Zone 3 and Zone 4 to continue making this journey on a Network One ticket.
I currently buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 4 only
You do not need to do anything as Zone 4 is being extended rather than reduced. You can continue to buy and use a Zone 4 ticket as you do now; you will now be able to travel further with your ticket as Zone 4 will be extended to include Washington, Penshaw, Houghton-le-Spring and Hetton-le-Hole.
I currently buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 5 only
From the 19th May, Zone 5 will no longer exist and so you will need to buy a different ticket for your journey. You will need to instead buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 4; you will be able to use this ticket in most of the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough, though if you are only making journeys on Go North East buses it will still be cheaper to buy a City of Sunderland ticket.
I currently buy a Zone 1 and Zone 2 ticket
You do not need to do anything as Zone 1 is not changing and Zone 2 is being extended rather than reduced. You can continue to buy and use a Zone 1 and Zone 2 ticket as you do now; you will now be able to travel slightly further with your ticket as Zone 2 will also include The Boldons.
I currently buy a Zone 2 and Zone 3 ticket
If you do not use your ticket to travel to the Washington area, then you do not need to do anything.
If you use your Zone 2 and Zone 3 ticket to travel between Gateshead and Washington you will need buy a different ticket for your journey from the 19th May. Instead, you will need to buy a two zone ticket valid in Zone 2 and Zone 4. This will give you travel further afield in the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough.
If you use your Zone 2 and Zone 3 ticket to travel between Gateshead and South Tyneside, you do not need to anything. However, from the 19th May you will no longer be able to travel to Washington with this ticket, therefore if you make journeys in Gateshead, Washington and South Tyneside, then you will need to switch to buying an All Zones ticket.
I currently buy a Zone 3 and Zone 4 ticket
If you currently use your ticket to travel between South Tyneside and Sunderland only then you do not need to do anything; you will be able to continue to use your ticket to make these journeys. Zone 4 will be extended to include most of the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough and so you will be able travel further with your ticket.
If you currently use your ticket to travel between Washington and Sunderland, then you will need to buy a different ticket for your journey from the 19th May. Instead of buying a two zone ticket, you will only need to buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 4.
If you currently use a Zone 3 and Zone 4 ticket to travel between The Boldons and Sunderland, you will need to buy a different ticket for your journey from the 19th May. Instead, you will need to buy a two zone ticket valid in Zone 2 and Zone 4. You will not be able to use this ticket to travel to other parts of South Tyneside; if you need to make these journeys as well, then you will instead need to buy an All Zones ticket.
I currently buy a Zone 3 and Zone 5 ticket
From the 19th May, Zone 5 will no longer exist and so you will need to buy a different ticket for your journey.
If you only travel between Washington and the Houghton-le-Spring area, then from the 19th May you will only need to buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 4. If you only need to travel on Go North East buses, it will be cheaper for you to buy a Go North East City of Sunderland ticket.
If you travel from the Birtley area to the Houghton-le-Spring area via Washington, then you will instead need to buy a two zone ticket valid in Zone 3 and Zone 4. If you only need to travel on Go North East buses, it will be cheaper for you to buy a Go North East Tyne & Wear ticket.
If you travel from South Tyneside to Washington on Go North East’s service 50 and then connect onto another bus at Washington Galleries to travel to the Houghton-le-Spring area, then you will need to buy a two zone ticket valid in Zone 3 and Zone 4. If you only need to travel on Go North East buses, it will be cheaper for you to buy a Go North East Tyne & Wear ticket.
I currently buy a Zone 4 and Zone 5 ticket
From the 19th May, Zone 5 will no longer exist and so you will need to buy a different ticket for your journey.
Zone 5 will become part of Zone 4, and so from the 19th May you will need to buy a one zone ticket valid in Zone 4. This ticket will cover most of the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough; if you only need to travel on Go North East buses, it will be cheaper for you to buy a Go North East City of Sunderland ticket.
All Zones ticket and All Zones Plus tickets
If you currently buy an All Zones or an All Zones Plus ticket you don’t need to do anything different from the 19th May.
FAQ:
When can I buy the new tickets from on your app?
The only new ticket as part of this change will be two zone tickets valid in Zone 2 and Zone 4. We will make these tickets available for sale on our app on the 18th May – they will be able to be used from the 19th May. Until that time, you should continue to buy your usual ticket – there will be a 30-day grace period to allow tickets on the current zone structure to be used up to and including the 17th June.
I have a Zone 1 and Zone 2 ticket – do I need to do anything?
No – your ticket will continue to be valid and you don’t need to do anything. After 19th May you will be able to use your ticket to travel to and from The Boldons.
I have a ticket valid in Zone 5 – what do I need to do?
After the 17th June, your ticket will no longer be valid. From that date, you will need to buy a Zone 4 ticket. There will be a 30-day grace period which will mean you can continue to use your Zone 5 ticket up to and including the 17th June. You can buy and use tickets on the new zone structure from the 19th May.
I have a ticket valid in Zone 4 that I bought before the 19th May – will I automatically be able to use it in the Washington area after the 19th May or will I need to buy a new Zone 4 ticket to do that?
From the 19th May, an existing Zone 4 ticket will automatically be valid in the expanded Zone 4 in the Washington and Houghton-le-Spring areas.
I have bought a weekly ticket that will be affected but haven’t yet activated it – what do I need to do?
Affected tickets can be used up to and including the 17th June. The 17th June is the last day to use such tickets, which means that a weekly ticket would need to be activated on of before the 11th June to get a full 7 day’s usage.
I have bought a 28-day ticket that will be affected but haven’t yet activated it – what do I need to do?
Affected tickets can be used up to and including the 17th June. The 17th June is the last day to use such tickets, which means that a 28-day ticket would need to be activated on or before the 21st May to get full 28 day’s usage.
I have bought a 7-day or 28-day ticket and haven’t had chance to activate in time for the change – can I get a refund on my ticket?
Yes – please contact our Customer Services team on 0191 420 5050 and they can cancel your ticket and issue you with a refund. They can only do this if your ticket has not been activated.
I have activated my 28-day ticket after the 21st May and so it will stop being valid before the ticket has expired – is there anything I can do?
Unfortunately we are unable to issue partial refunds on tickets once activated. We may, however, be able to change your ticket if you will have at least 7 days left on your ticket that you will be unable to use, for example if your ticket is not set to expire until the 24th of June or after. In such a situation, we will not be able to change your ticket to one that has a higher value, i.e. a two zone ticket to an all zones ticket, and you may still lose out on some days of travel.
We therefore strongly encourage customers to activate any unused tickets so that they expire before the 17th June, or contact our Customer Services team to arrange a full refund for any inactivated tickets.
I have a Network One paper ticket
Unfortunately, Go North East are only able to change or refund tickets bought on the Go North East app. If you have a paper ticket bought from a Metro ticket machine, please contact Nexus on 0191 20 20 747, and they will advise what you need to do.
Network One are contacting customers who have bought tickets directly from them – this applies to annual and corporate tickets. However, if you do need to get in touch with them, they can be emailed at [email protected].
I have a Network One ticket that I bought on the Stagecoach or Arriva app
Unfortunately, Go North East are only able to change or refund tickets bought on the Go North East app. If you have an app ticket that you bought from Stagecoach or Arriva, please contact their customer service teams directly.