Date: 27 Jul 2010
Tyne Valley services 10, 602, 604, X11, X12
Major improvements to our services in the Tyne Valley commence on Sunday 8 August including:
- Better services for Prudhoe, Corbridge and Hexham
- Better buses on the Hexham and Prudhoe services
- New fares and ticket prices with outstanding new offers
Listening to our passengers
We have now been able to look in detail at the responses our passengers gave to the consultation we carried out on several aspects of our Tyne Valley bus services in March. Full results are available.
Some of the key findings were as follows:
- 48% of customers said they would travel more frequently if the 10 and 602 were combined, with buses running every 20 minutes between Newcastle, Metrocentre, Crawcrook and Hexham.
- 52% of customers said they would travel more frequently if we used high quality, air-conditioned Mercedes buses on the combined service.
- 73% of customers were ‘in favour’ or ‘strongly in favour’ of our plans to refurbish the buses that are currently used on the 602.
- 47% of customers said they would travel more frequently if we provide a regular hourly service to Hexham in the evening and on Sundays.
Responding to our passengers
Service 602 is being improved in frequency by replacing it with an extended service Ten which will run between Newcastle, Metrocentre and Crawcrook every 10 minutes and continue every 20 minutes to Prudhoe, Corbridge and Hexham. Journeys between Crawcrook and Rockwood Hill will continue to run every 20 minutes.
Our Ten service is operated using luxurious Mercedes buses, complete with tinted windows, air conditioning and our gold standard customer service.
From Sunday, 8 August
- All journeys will serve Corbridge centre
- Morning peak journeys will no longer extend to Queen Elizabeth High School. The small number of customers currently making this journey should take service 688 or 801 from
Hexham Bus Station. - Buses travelling between Rockwood Hill and Newcastle will be re-numbered 10A.
- Buses travelling between Hexham, Metrocentre and Newcastle will run as service 10.
- In the late evenings, following Metrocentre shops closing times, buses to Rockwood Hill will be reduced to hourly.
- Together, services 10, 10A and 604 will provide a late evening service every 20 minutes between Newcastle, Metrocentre and Crawcrook, with a regular two buses per hour to Prudhoe.
Non-stop route between Metrocentre and Central Station
During most of the day, Ten provides a non-stop service between Metrocentre and Central Station/Clayton Street. However, during the morning peak times, Ten to Newcastle runs along Centrelink and stops at Colliery Road (Kingfisher Court), Team Street, Yetholm Road Junction and Copthorne Hotel.
Ten services leaving Metrocentre after 1830 and leaving Newcastle after 1900 and all day on Sunday services will run via Teams slip road and call at all bus stops.
602 and X12
These services are replaced by our top quality Mercedes Ten service which gives a gold standard service and improved frequency.
604 and X11
We’re bringing newer, refurbished and more reliable buses onto these services to give you an improved service.
At peak times, journeys between Crawcrook and Newcastle via Scotswood Road will be operated by service 604 every 15 minutes and via Metrocentre by services 10 and 10A every 10 minutes.
We’ll also be making some adjustments to the timetable for 604 to improve reliability and the buses currently operating as X11 will be renumbered as 604.
31 and 32
Evening and Sunday journeys will be re-routed via Scotswood Road instead of Metrocentre. We’ve made the change after customers asked for the service to run to Newcastle Business Park and to serve additional stops on Scotswood Road.
Fares and Tickets
Customers in Tyne Valley were faced with differing fare arrangements between the two operators until 28 March. At that time we committed to hold most of the differences in place pending a review of fares and tickets and we committed to wait until services were being improved before standardising fares across the services in Tyne Valley. As a result fares on these services did not increase in April when fares elsewhere changed. New fares will apply from 8 August.
The Ten Weekly Saver ticket will be extended to include services 10, 10A and 604 and will be priced at £12 for journeys between Rockwood Hill/Crawcrook and Newcastle and at £18 for journeys between Hexham, Corbridge or Prudhoe and Newcastle.
Hexham and Prudhoe Local Fares
A Hexham Town Fare will simplify prices for all journeys within the defined Hexham Town area. A flat single fare of £1.10 will be charged. Similarly, a Prudhoe Town Fare will be introduced at £1.10.
Buzzfares and Get Around
From 8 August new prices will also apply on Buzzfares but by buying on line, you will be able to pay less than the current normal retail price. Get Around ticket prices will remain unchanged with the exception of our 16 week ticket which remains outstanding value at £189. We are also introducing a new annual Get Around price of £520 to provide unlimited travel for young people at the equivalent of £10 per week.
