Date: 13 Jan 2012
A private sector bus partnership is reaping rewards in the North East thanks to collaboration between bus operator Go North East and energy-giant npower.
In spring 2010, npower re-located from Newcastle, Gateshead and Peterlee to new state-of-the-art offices at Rainton Bridge Business Park near Houghton-le-Spring. npower employs over 1,800 people at Rainton Bridge and turned to Go North East to create bus links for both existing staff and new recruits.
After detailed discussions about how to best meet the needs of staff, contracts were signed at the beginning of 2010 to allow the new services to start when the first people moved in to the offices. The result is that four branded routes now serve the business park:
These offer 12 buses per hour to the business park at peak times, providing direct links with Newcastle, Gateshead, Heworth, Washington, Sunderland, Peterlee and Houghton-le-Spring town centre.
There are now more than 15,000 journeys per month on the services and nearly 20 per cent of the people who work at the business park travel by bus. The services have been so popular that Go North East invested £1.26 million in a fleet of new buses for the Red Arrows 921. These were introduced in April 2011 and offer the latest euro-five engines, free Wi-Fi for passengers and automated next stop announcements.
Go North East and npower jointly monitor reliability and quality of customer service against pre-agreed ambitious standards through a close working relationship. Both organisations support joint marketing initiatives including a Rainton Bridge Bus Guide, to publicise the service to current and potential staff.
Martin Harris, Commercial Director for Go North East, said: “This partnership proves that companies can rely on likeminded private operators to deliver first-class bus services for their staff. With its progressive approach, investing in these services, npower has been able to put its employees first and offer them cheap, reliable, to the door services. This has also benefited the local communities whose service levels have been enhanced as a result”.
Dave Horton from RWE npower, said: “Working with Go North East allows us the opportunity to tailor the services to meet our staff needs around shift start and end times whilst also reducing on site parking issues and reducing our carbon footprint by replacing thousands of miles of potential commuter travel. A great solution for our staff and public alike.”
