Changes to services in Sunderland, Washington, Gateshead and Durham from 25 May 2008
Investing in your services
In the last few months, we have invested more than £3m to bring you some of the most modern, up-to-date buses on the market. The gold buses not only look great but come with a brand new gold standard which promises you unbeatable reliability and punctuality and first class customer care.
By investing in quality buses and services, we believe more people will be encouraged to take the bus and leave their cars at home, reducing congestion on our roads and helping the environment.
Because we want to make the most of these and many other improvements, and give as many people as possible the opportunity to use our buses, we need to make some adjustments to services from Sunday 25 May.
Our Laser trailblazer
Our brand new Laser 35 service brings you all the style and comfort associated with its Mercedes name and yet it offers great value travel costing from just £13 for seven days travel with a BuzzFare ticket covering the red zone - see map inside for details.
The luxurious gold buses are some of the first to operate in the region and have tinted windows, air-conditioned interior, plush seats and CCTV. They also have ramp access and low floors for easy access and have dedicated space inside for buggies and wheelchairs. As well as being kind to our passengers, the new buses are kind to the environment too, operating to the highest European standards on engine emissions.
Our Laser services also bring with them a brand new gold standard of travel for our passengers. We have a team of staff dedicated purely to keeping our Laser services in tip top condition, including providing first class customer care and making sure the buses are reliable.
Commercial Director, Martin Harris said
“If we are going to continue to attract more passengers onto our services we know we are going to have to tackle the issues that are most important to our customers. Our investment in the new buses for our Laser service brings quality in terms of the whole journey experience – from providing punctual, reliable services and high standards of customer care to the comfort of the journey itself.”
Laser service 35 will provide the same great frequency and follow the same route as current service 35 – it just sparkles a lot more!
A Prince among buses
Our Prince Bishops' services 20 and X20 are changing to provide a right royal service between Sunderland and Durham. Service 20 will now run every 10 minutes during the day on Monday to Saturday, making them even more convenient to catch and connect to other services. On Sundays, buses will run every 20 minutes.
So that we are able to deliver this vastly improved level of service, the X20 Prince Bishops Swift is changing and will operate as service 20X and run during morning and afternoon peak times only.
There will be no changes to our N20 night bus, which will continue to run on Saturday and Sunday mornings serving Durham, Gilesgate Moor, Belmont and Carrville.
The 56 is even more Fab!
The grooviest bus in the region is about to get even more absolutely fabulous! The Fab 56 Monday to Saturday daytime frequency is being improved yet again – giving you a service every 12 minutes!
After the service changes are introduced, you'll have even more Fab 56 services to choose from. Extra journeys have been added on Monday to Saturday so that buses run later into the evening and on Saturdays, they will start even earlier in the mornings.
The Fab 56 Sunday service is also being improved to run every 20 minutes and timetable changes will help make sure the buses run on time.
Fab 56 takes you between Newcastle, Gateshead, Wrekenton, Washington Concord and Sunderland. It's ideal for shopping or working The Bridges or in central Newcastle; or why not hop off at Gateshead and catch one of our Centrelink buses direct to MetroCentre.
Our night bus N56 continues to run between Newcastle, Washington and Sunderland every hour on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
From local legend to brilliant bus
Something magical is happening to your local service 71. From the end of May the bus will certainly catch your eye; with its brilliant green finish and image of a fire-breathing dragon, service 71 is becoming a tribute to the local legend of the Lambton Worm.
The Lambton Worm will run every 30 minutes during the day on Monday to Saturday between Chester le Street and Houghton-le-Spring and Sunderland and every hour in the evenings and on Sundays between Chester-le-Street and Houghton-le-Spring where connections are available for passengers wishing to continue on to Sunderland.
The route passes the Lambton Estate and crosses the River Wear as it travels from Chester-le-Street to Great Lumley, Houghton-le-Spring and into Sunderland via the Board Inn and Barnes Park.
| £1.40 | MAX fare in Sunderland City area |
We have a maximum single fare of £1.40 and a short hop fare of £1 - great for one off trips ! These fares apply to journeys within our Sunderland City area which stretches from as far as the A19 in the west and the city boundary in the north and south.
| every 15 mins on Mondays to Saturdays | Pennywell - Suderland City Centre - Southwick Green |
| every 30 mins on Mondays to Saturdays | Sunderland City Centre - Witherwack and Sunderland City Centre - Castletown - Boldon - Heworth Interchange |
There is a new route in Pennywell for our service 26 and 36 Black Cats and 26 will be extended all the way to Heworth replacing service 160 providing new links for many customers of both services.
Service 36 will terminate at Witherwack.
Witherwack Red House Downhill and Town End Farm will continue to be served by services 29 and 39.
26A provides peak time journeys between Southwick, Castletown and Sunderland Enterprise Park.
Details of evening service on routes 26, 36, 29 and 39 will be released as soon as discussions with Nexus are concluded.
| every 15 mins on Mondays to Saturdays | Sunderland City Centre - Doxford International/Southwick |
| every 30 mins on Mondays to Saturdays | Sunderland City Centre - Town End Farm / Castletown and Southwick |
There will be improved service from Sunderland City Centre via Grangetown, Ryhope and Tunstall Village to Doxford Park and Doxford International.
Monday to Friday daytime buses will no longer service Sunderland Interchange stopping instead at Vine Place, Athenaeum Street, Holmside and will run every 15 minutes via Toward Road.
Peak time buses along Durham Road to Doxford International will be provided by Services 20X and X35 and continue to provide a limited stop service along Durham Road to Doxford International. Service X20 is discontinued.
Other changes in brief...
| service: | serving: | description of change: |
73 / 74 |
Sunderland · Grindon · Fatfield · Harraton · Washington · Concord · Sulgrave · Waterview Park · Castletown · Sunderland |
Minor timetable changes to early morning journeys will be made. |
77 |
Sunderland – MetroCentre |
Evening journeys run by Go North East will be replaced by revised Veolia service, contact Traveline North East on 0871 200 22 33 for details. Go North East services 73, 74, 493, M1 and W2 will provide alternative buses to most places. |
99 |
Seaburn · Southwick · Hylton Castle |
Timetable will be revised with additional journeys. |
154 |
Durham · Murton · Dalton Park · Seaham |
Timetable will be revised and will be re-numbered 65. |
160 |
Sunderland · West Boldon · Heworth |
Will be replaced by improved Black Cats service 26. |
180 |
Heworth · Washington |
Minor changes to Monday to Friday journey times and the Sunday morning journey is withdrawn. |
593 |
Pallion Retail Park · Doxford International |
Go North East service will be replaced by revised Veolia service, contact Traveline North East on 0871 200 22 33 for details. |
W2 - W6 Washington Street Shuttle |
Coach Road Est · Concord · Barmston Village · Washington Galleries · Lambton · Ayton · Birtley · Brady Sq · Washington Village · Sulgrave · Washington Galleries · Concord |
Monday to Saturday daytime buses will follow their existing routes. Evening and Sunday buses on W2 and W3 will follow similar routes to daytime services. Evening and Sunday buses to Barmston Court will be provided by W5 and W5. W4 is withdrawn, with links to Waterview Park or Teal Farm 73, 74, X2 and 50, also to Coach Road Estate by W2. |
X10 |
Newcastle · Gateshead · Middlesbrough |
Extra early morning commuter journey with minor timetable changes to improve reliability. |
X35 |
Sunderland · Houghton-le-Spring · Hetton-le-Hole · Easington Lane · South Hetton · Peterlee · Hartlepool |
Minor timetable changes to improve reliability. |
