Your guide to our service changes in North Tyneside, Newcastle and South East Northumberland
2 months ago
We’re planning changes to our services across North Tyneside, Newcastle and South East Northumberland, commencing on Sunday 23 March 2025.
The new services and adjustments to timetables are designed to provide a more reliable and useful service for our customers.
What’s new?
- Our new service 356 (combined with the existing service 355) will provide journeys every 30 minutes for passengers travelling between Newcastle and Forest Hall. Every hour, service 356 will also travel beyond Forest Hall to Whitley Bay via Killingworth, Murton Village, North Tyneside Hospital and Monkseaton. This new service will replace most of Nexus service 359, which will be withdrawn.
- We’re taking over the operation of service 342, with changes to both the route and timetable from Wallsend to Kingston Park.
- New timetables for our other services in the area to improve reliability.
How did feedback from customers influence these changes?
Before finalising these service changes, we invited our passengers and stakeholders to share their feedback on the proposed routes and timetables.
Thank you very much to everyone who shared their thoughts, your feedback has had a positive impact on our plans:
- Feedback from passengers and stakeholders highlighted that service 352 between Cramlington and Newcastle provides a vital link for commuters, including those travelling to work at the Freeman Hospital. Thanks to this valuable feedback, we will continue to operate this service during peak times on weekdays.
- Feedback from stakeholders and customers has also led to the adjustment of several timetables to provide better connections to schools and other transport services.
Summary of the changes
Coaster 1 Whitley Bay-Metro Centre: Minor timetable changes to improve service reliability. Journeys to Whitley Bay on Sunday will terminate in the town centre and will no longer extend to Bournemouth Gardens (Band stand).
340/341 Wallsend-Hadrian Park: Service renumbered from 41 (340) and 41A (341). Minor timetable changes to improve reliability.
54 Newcastle-Whitley Bay: This evening/Sunday Nexus contract service has been taken over from Stagecoach by Go North East. Minor timetable changes.
Cobalt & Coast 307/309 Newcastle-Blyth/North Shields: Timetable changes to provide a more reliable service, along with Arriva services 306 and 308.
317 Wallsend-Whitley Bay: Minor timetable changes to improve service reliability.
NEW 342 Wallsend-Kingston Park: Go North East will take over the operation of this service from 23 March 2025. The route has been changed to operate from Wallsend to Kingston Park, with an amended timetable.
Nexus will reintroduce their service M71 to maintain links between Kingston Park and Newbiggin Hall. Additional 342 journeys will operate every hour Monday – Saturday daytime between Wallsend and Benton Rise. This will provide journeys up to every 30 minutes between Benton Rise and Wallsend Metro.
352 Newcastle-Cramlington: The service will now only operate peak commuter journeys on weekdays. Alternative services provided by Go North East and Stagecoach are available for most customers, including on improved services 342, 353, 354, 355 and new service 356.
353 North Shields-Cramlington: Timetable changes to improve service reliability.
354 Newcastle-North Shields: Timetable changes to improve service reliability.
NEW 355/356 Newcastle-Forest Hall-Whitley Bay: These services will provide journeys up to every 30 minutes between Newcastle and Forest Hall. Every hour, service 356 will also travel beyond Forest Hall to Whitley Bay via Killingworth, Murton Village, North Tyneside Hospital and Monkseaton. This new service will replace most of Nexus service 359, which will be withdrawn.
X39 Newcastle-Cobalt Park (peak times only): Minor timetable changes to improve reliability.
X78 Newcastle-Darras Hall (evenings): The contract for this service has been awarded to Stagecoach, who will operate the service from 23 March 2025.
How can I stay up to date with the new timetables?
Our new routes and timetables will begin on Sunday 23 March 2025. There are a few different ways to check if your usual journey will be affected and to plan your journey:
Visit us at one of our roadshows where GNE staff will be on hands to answer your questions about the changes and distribute the new timetables:
Date Time Location 20 March 8am - 11am Killingworth Bus Station 20 March 2pm - 5pm Haymarket Bus Station 21 March 8am - 11am North Shields Transport Hub 21 March 2pm - 5pm Wallsend Bus Station - Check out the timetables on our website.
- Download the Go North East app to check fares, buy tickets and plan your journey.
- We will update this page when our printed timetables for these services are available. Our customers will be able to collect them from local bus stations or at one of our drop-in events
- If you still have questions, please contact our customer service team on 0191 420 5050, available Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm.