Service changes from 21 July 2024
2 months ago
There are some service changes taking place from Sunday 21st July 2024. These include some significant improvements to services, funded through the North East Combined Authority’s Bus Service Improvement Plan.
Due to Nexus contract changes, we will no longer operate the 83a, 92, 99 or 643, and will reduce the number of journeys we operate on service 939. These services will continue to be run, but by different bus operators.
The changes are detailed below, by area.
- Derwentside
- Gateshead (East)
- Gateshead (West)
- Northumberland
- Peterlee
- Sunderland, Seaham and South Tyneside
- North Tyneside
Derwentside (Consett/Stanley area)
From Sunday 21st July, there will be some significant improvements to bus services in these areas. Extra fast buses will be introduced between Consett, Stanley and Newcastle which will also benefit villages between these places, including Burnopfield, Dipton and Whickham.
Annfield Plain, Dipton & Burnopfield
X70/X71/X72/X73
Funded as part of the region’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, there will be an improvement to bus services in Annfield Plain, Dipton and Burnopfield.
Dipton and Burnopfield will both see a doubling of the number of buses every hour to Newcastle on Monday to Saturday daytimes, from hourly to two per hour. And, both Annfield Plain and Dipton will see a reintroduction of direct bus services to the Metrocentre.
New service X70 will operate hourly on Monday to Saturday daytimes between Consett and Newcastle via Dipton, Burnopfield, Sunniside and Gateshead. Alongside service X71, this means there will be up to two fast buses an hour from Burnopfield to both Newcastle and Consett.
Service X71 will be rerouted via Whickham and Dunston between Sunniside and Newcastle but will continue to operate hourly Monday to Saturday daytime. One morning journey will operate from Consett to Newcastle as service X71a in order to maintain early morning connections to Team Valley and Gateshead.
New service X73 will operate hourly on Monday to Saturday daytimes between Stanley and Newcastle via Annfield Plain, Dipton, Tanfield Village, Whickham and Metrocentre. This service will replace service X72 between Stanley and Crookgate on Monday to Saturday daytimes. Service X72 will continue to operate evenings and Sunday daytimes.
Some journeys on new service X32 will start from Consett and operate via Annfield Plain to maintain peak time links from Annfield Plain to the Team Valley and Gateshead. Outside of peak times, anyone travelling from Annfield Plain to Gateshead Interchange are advised to travel on service X73 to the Metrocentre and change to frequent service X66 (which operates up to every 10 minutes).
Sunday services will remain unchanged, with service X72 continuing to operate hourly. There are no changes to service 6.
Consett
X70/X71
Funded as part of the region’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, new service X70 will be introduced between Consett and Newcastle.
The X70 will operate hourly on Monday to Saturday daytimes via Leadgate, Dipton, Burnopfield, Sunniside and Gateshead. Alongside the X71, this will mean an increase in the frequency of buses from Leadgate to Newcastle on Monday to Saturday daytimes, from hourly to two per hour.
Service X71 will be rerouted between Sunniside and Newcastle via Whickham and Dunston instead of Gateshead.
Between the X45, X70 and X71, these changes mean there will be up to four fast buses every hour between Consett and Newcastle – two via the Metrocentre, and two via Sunniside.
47/X45
An extra morning peak time journey will be introduced between Blackhall Mill and Newcastle on service 47, improving the frequency of buses through Chopwell, High Spen and Rowlands Gill at the busiest time on weekdays.
There will also be minor changes to the times of the X45 and 47, seven days a week.
Stanley
X30/X31/X32
Funded as part of the region’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, there will be an increase in the number of fast buses from Stanley to Newcastle from two to three buses every hour.
New service X32 will be introduced between Stanley and Newcastle via Gateshead, and will operate alongside existing services X30 and X31.
The X32 will operate hourly on Monday to Saturday daytimes via East Stanley, Sunniside, Lobley Hill estate, Team Valley North End and Gateshead Interchange.
No changes will be made to the route of services X30 and X31, though the times for both services will change.
Sunday services between Newcastle and Stanley on service X30 will continue to operate hourly.
From Sunday 21st July, there will be changes to some services in the eastern part of Gateshead.
These changes are detailed below, by service.
51/52
The evening frequency on these services will be increased from hourly to every 30 minutes, funded through the Bus Service Improvement Plan.
57
There will be some minor changes to the route and times of service 57.
From Heworth towards Wardley, buses will be revised to operate via the A184 to the Kirkwood Gardens Slip Road, then via Sunderland Road, Wardley Turning Circle, Ellen Wilkinson Estate, Lingey Lane, Leam Lane, and back to the A184.
67/69
Go North East will take over the running of these services, operating a revised route between the QE Hospital and Metrocentre (67) / Winlaton (69) only.
Buses will operate hourly on Monday to Saturday daytimes. Nexus are currently procuring an operator for the subsidised evening and Sunday journeys on services 67 and 69.
The section of route between Wardley and the QE Hospital will no longer operate. Alternative routes are available in this area, with all journeys still possible using a change of bus.
Alternative routes
From Wardley or Leam Lane, passengers for the QE Hospital can use service 57, and from Felling can use services 93/94.
Those wanting to travel from eastern parts of Gateshead to the Metrocentre can use services 57 or 58 to Gateshead Interchange, transferring there to the frequent X66 service.
From Wardley to Felling centre, passengers can travel on the 57 to Heworth, transferring there to the 51/93 (52/94 in the opposite direction).
From Wardley, Felling or Leam Lane to Low Fell, passengers can travel on the 57 to the QE Hospital, transferring there to the 69. Or, passengers in Leam Lane can travel directly on services 51/52 which serve Kells Lane in Low Fell. From Felling, services 93 and 94 operate directly to Low Fell, stopping at Kells Lane/Durham Road.
From Wardley, Felling or Leam Lane to Team Valley North End, passengers can travel to Gateshead Interchange on services 57 or 58, transferring there to services 1, 94 (93 in the opposite direction, X32 or X70. Alternatively, passengers can travel via Heworth, transferring to service 93 (94 in the opposite direction) which operates to the Team Valley via Low Fell.
From Wardley, Felling or Leam Lane to Whickham or Blaydon, passengers can travel to Gateshead Interchange on services 57 or 58, transferring there to service 1 for Whickham, or services 49/49a for Blaydon and Winlaton.
There are no other changes to services in the eastern parts of Gateshead at this time.
Chopwell, High Spen & Rowlands Gill
47/X45
There will be some minor changes to times of both of these services, seven days a week. There will also be an extra peak time bus on service 47 from Blackhall Mill to Newcastle on weekday mornings.
Dunston & Whickham
X30/X31/X71
Funded as part of the region’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, there will be an increase from two to three buses every hour from Whickham to Newcastle via Dunston on Monday to Saturday daytimes. Services X30 and X31 will continue to operate hourly, and will be complemented by service X71 between Consett and Newcastle, which will also operate hourly. Between Newcastle’s Central Station and Sunniside, the X71 will follow the same route as the X30/X31.
The Monday to Saturday evening frequency on service X30 will be improved, with buses operating hourly rather than every 90 minutes.
Sunday services on the X30 will remain unchanged.
X73
New service X73 will operate hourly on Monday to Saturday daytimes, linking Fellside Road in Whickham with the Metrocentre and Newcastle. This new service will offer faster journeys from the western side of Whickham to Newcastle city centre – buses will take just 25 minutes! Service X73 will also serve the Quayside on journeys into Newcastle in the morning peak on weekdays.
67/69
Go North East will take over the running of these services, operating a revised route between the QE Hospital and Metrocentre (67) / Winlaton (69) only.
Buses will operate hourly on Monday to Saturday daytimes. Nexus are currently procuring an operator for the subsidised evening and Sunday journeys on services 67 and 69.
The section of route between Wardley and the QE Hospital will no longer operate. Alternative routes are available in this area, with all journeys still possible using a change of bus.
Alternative routes
From Whickham or Lobley Hill, passengers for Felling, Leam Lane or Wardley can use service 1 to Gateshead Interchange, transferring there to service 58 for Felling and Leam Lane, or service 57 for Leam Lane and Wardley.
From Dunston, passengers should use services 49/49a or X66 and transfer at Gateshead Interchange for services to Felling, Leam Lane and Wardley as listed above.
There are no other changes to services in the western parts of Gateshead at this time.
643
Following Nexus contract changes, Go North East will no longer operate this service; another operator will take over the running of this service.
Lobley Hill
Service X72 around Lobley Hill estate (south) will be replaced by new service X32 operating between Stanley and Newcastle. Buses will continue to operate hourly, but the times of buses will change.
Sunniside
X30/X31/X32/X70/X71/X72/X73
There will be some significant changes to buses through Sunniside. On Monday to Saturday daytimes, the number of buses from Sunniside to Newcastle will increase from four to five an hour, with three buses an hour operating via Whickham and Dunston (X30/X31/X71) and two buses an hour operating via Lobley Hill and Gateshead (X32/X70).
New service X32 will increase the number of fast buses from Sunniside to Stanley from two to three an hour. And new service X70 will increase the number of buses from Sunniside to Consett from one to two an hour. Anyone needing to travel from Sunniside to Annfield Plain can do so by changing buses at Stanley (and there will also be some direct peak time journeys on service X32).
On Monday to Saturday evenings, service X72 will continue to operate, and service X30 will also continue to operate but will be improved to an hourly frequency.
Sunday services will remain unchanged; the X30 will continue to operate hourly. There will also be no changes to service 6.
- View X30 Timetable
- View X31 Timetable
- View X32 Timetable
- View X70 Timetable
- View X71 Timetable
- View X72 Timetable
- View X73 Timetable
From Sunday 21st July, there will be additional journeys on service 681 from Alston to Haltwhistle at 16:40 on weekdays and 17:45 on Saturdays.
There are no other changes to services in Northumberland at this time.
From Sunday 21st July there will be changes to service 201 at the request of Durham County Council.
Service 201 will be revised to serve the east side of Acre Rigg Road. On returning from Bracken Hill, service 201 will operate via the A19 interchange, Burnhope Road and Acre Rigg Road before returning to its current route.
Alternate journeys will be renumbered 202 and operate the reverse of the 201 route (though both will operate the same way round North West Industrial Estate).
There are no other changes to services in the Peterlee area at this time.
Sunderland, Seaham & South Tyneside
From Sunday 21st July, there will be changes to some services in Sunderland, including the introduction of a new, direct link between Sunderland and North Shields.
These changes are detailed below, by service.
9
This service will be extended from North Shields to Jarrow, via the Tyne Tunnel, seven days a week.
On Saturdays and Sundays, the Jarrow to North Shields part of the route will only operate hourly due to major roadworks in the Tyne Tunnel that will see the slip road from Jarrow to the Tyne Tunnel northbound closed. This will mean a significant diversion for northbound buses from Jarrow to access the Tunnel.
35
On weekdays, the 06:21 service 35A from Boldon to Low Moorsley will now operate as service 35 and depart at 06:18. The 08:05 service 35 from Low Moorsley to Boldon will now operate at 08:00. Both these changes are being made to improve punctuality of these services.
39/39a/39b
Due to Nexus contract changes, Go North East will no longer be the operator of the Doxford Park to Washington section of route. This will mean that services 39/39a/39b will only operate between Pennywell and Doxford Park; Nexus-funded service 37 will replace the link between Doxford Park and Washington, another operator will take over the running of this service.
Most journeys on the section of route from Doxford Park to Houghton-le-Spring will also be withdrawn due to very low passenger numbers. Some early morning journeys at weekends will continue to operate, funded by Nexus.
The Sunday daytime frequency will be improved, with buses operating every 30 minutes.
65
Funded as part of the region’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, the Sunday daytime frequency on service 65 will increase to hourly.
99
Due to Nexus contract changes, Go North East will no longer be the operator of service 99.
939
Go North East will no longer operate the 06:35 journey from Sunderland and the 16:08 and 17:08 journeys from Team Valley; these journeys will be run by another operator following Nexus contract changes.
There will be no other changes to services in the Sunderland and South Tyneside area at this time.
317
Minor amendments to the 317 timetable to improve punctuality.