Cleaner buses take flight
Go North East has one of the cleanest bus fleets of its size in the country and to make it even easier for you to see how well your bus is doing to help look after the environment, we have introduced a new ‘kite mark’ on our buses.
Using simple illustrations based on a red kite bird taking flight, each symbol lets you see at-a-glance how each of our buses meet European standards on emissions.
Bus travel is one of the most environmentally friendly ways to travel. A full bus, carrying around 40 people, not only takes up less road space than the equivalent number of people travelling in cars, but produces fewer emissions and reduces congestion, leading to improved air quality.
Today’s buses can even improve on this with their cleaner fuels and engines which are designed to reduce emissions even further.
The level of emissions produced by engines is defined by a Euro classification with Euro 1 being the lowest, but still-effective standard, right up to the highest current standard of Euro 5.
We have taken these recognised European standards and chosen to illustrate them with our red kite symbols, which are shown below. You can see the kite marks on the back and inside our buses.
Switching from the car to the bus - or even just using the bus more often - will reduce the harmful emissions being released into the atmosphere, reduce congestion on our roads and help improve air quality.
A quick guide to European emission standards
Different engine standards filter out some pollution by varying degrees, reducing the amount released into the air.
European standards on emissions were first introduced in 1992 when maximum levels were set for four common pollutants :- carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter.
Permitted levels were further reduced with the introduction of Euro 2 engines between 1996 and 1998 and controls on smoke were added to the list of pollutants managed when Euro 3 engines were introduced between 1999 and 2000. Euro 4 engines reduced the levels of all five pollutants further and Euro 5 even further still to give the cleanest engines currently available.
Our continued commitment to the environment
We all have a responsibility to reduce harmful emissions and, as one of the UK’s leading bus operators, Go North East is already making great strides in this area through sustained investment in our fleet.
Green Marketing Award in the New Transit Green Transport Awards (for Red Kite)
Emissions produced by our buses are among the lowest in the UK. We were the first bus operator in the region to introduce buses using the highest standard Euro 5 engines with our Mercedes Red Arrows service. Since then, we have increased the number of buses operating at these standards with our Citylink, Laser, Ten, Silver Arrows and Red Arrows services. Details of these services are shown below.
We are committed to increasing the number of Euro 5 buses in our fleet in the future.
Go North East’s gold standard Euro 5 services
Our gold standard services, below, not only use the cleanest engines available but offer unbeatable passenger comfort and customer service along with frequent services and unrivalled reliability and punctuality.
Red Arrows X1, X2 and X3
Newcastle - Easington Lane and Newcastle - Sunderland
Silver Arrows 2A and 2C
Sunderland - Washington Galleries
TEN 10
Newcastle - Metrocentre - Rockwood Hill
Laser 35
South Shields - Sunderland and Hetton-le-Hole
Citylink 58
Hadrian Park – Newcastle - Heworth
All of our buses use Ultra Low Sulphur biodiesel which has helped us to achieve a 100% pass rate on emissions from the national vehicle standards agency, VOSA.
Inspired by Red Kites
Our kite mark symbol was inspired by the Northern Kites Project which was responsible for the successful introduction of red kites to the region after an absence of more than 170 years.
Go North East has bee inspired by the return of the red kites to our region from the very beginning, using dramatic images of the birds to create its multi-award-winning Red Kite buses.
The Red Kite bus is used by nearly 3,800 passengers a day and offers a frequent service linking Newcastle, Metrocentre, Derwent Valley and Consett. It also serves the Red Kite Trail where passengers can hop on and off at various sections to sample the walk and visit some of the best locations for spotting red kites.
Our parent group, Go-Ahead.
Go-Ahead became the first UK transport operator to be awarded the Carbon Trust Standard in recognition of our work to reduce carbon emissions.
Go-Ahead is also a member of Greener Journeys, a campaign to raise awareness of the role buses and coaches can play to help the Government deliver its carbon reduction targets by giving people a real alternative to private car use.
For the third year in a row Go-Ahead achieved a gold rating in Business in the Community’s (BITC) Responsibility Index – the highest rating amongst comparable participating public transport operators.
