North East Buses

Do short service runs count, I remember the 88 used to do a 3 min Journey from one end of lukes lane to the other then change trip number etc at the end.

(19 Oct 2023, 6:47 pm)Unber43 wrote [ -> ]Do short service runs count, I remember the 88 used to do a 3 min Journey from one end of lukes lane to the other then change trip number etc at the end.

Yeah any registered service that was a short route.

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(18 Oct 2023, 11:21 pm)James101 wrote [ -> ]Was there once a Stockton - Chandler’s Wharf Mecca shuttle from Stagecoach which was similarly short?

You’re right I think they was the 525 and think one of the Transbus darts was used on it.

(19 Oct 2023, 7:10 pm)col87 wrote [ -> ]You’re right I think they was the 525 and think one of the Transbus darts was used on it.

Nope. 525 was a Government-funded route linking the High Street to Teesdale in a loop - originally out via Church Road and back into town via Bridge Road until the work on the one-way system at the bottom of Church Road at which point it was flipped round to operate the other way round.
The service between the High Street and Mecca Bingo was numbered the 477 - and indeed, still ran until Covid struck, although at the end only at limited times of the day and operated by M&D Travel. Like the 525, it left the High Street via Church Road and then operated via the Riverside to the Bingo.

(16 Jun 2026, 6:22 pm)HarryHarry wrote [ -> ]I feel like the 763 from Consett Bus Station to St James Court is quite short , my friend says the route takes 4 minutes from the Bus Station but I usually get on at Tesco's and it's about 2 minutes from there.

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The TB29 from Gateshead to Racecourse Estate just takes around 5 minutes to get into the Estate but according to google maps the whole route takes 20 minutes (not just to the Estate back to Gateshead too) but I disagree with it.

The old consett V11 could've also have took that spot to be fair.

Theres one that stands out which im surprised nobody has said
555 Four Lane Ends-Quorum

I'm going to say the Stagecoach 68 Four Lanes End Metro to D.S.S Tyneview Park.

Gala Bingo Bus from Metrocentre BS to Gala Bingo, approx 700 metres. https://flickr.com/photos/gjm-photogenic/17373231265

Was there also a 60 that ran from Gateshead Interchange- The Sage or round that area
There is (or was) a short 12 that ran from Wallsend Interchange- Stotts Road

(17 Jun 2026, 2:28 pm)V514DFT wrote [ -> ]Was there also a 60 that ran from Gateshead Interchange- The Sage or round that area
There is (or was) a short 12 that ran from Wallsend Interchange- Stotts Road

Those 12 shorts would have been when it did a one way loop around Wallsend (which they don't do now), distance of just over a mile.

The 60 was a circular route, but it was over 1km just from the Interchange to the sage.

Think after the G1, think the next two routes would have been....
A1 - Metrocentre Bus Station to Asda - https://flickr.com/photos/gjm-photogenic/26562624891
IKEA - Metrocentre Bus Station to Ikea - https://flickr.com/photos/gjm-photogenic/11919978616

Some other route for contention are...
105 - Byker Shopping Park Shuttle - https://flickr.com/photos/gjm-photogenic/32152633304
Tall Ship Shuttle from Gateshead to Sage - https://flickr.com/photos/gjm-photogenic/51834841849

GCT ran a Short S1 between South Shields Town Centre and Little Haven.
ConnectorShuttle from Concord to the Vaccination Place down the road.
Go North East S1. Metrocentre Car Park (might aswell be called) Shuttle
GCT 61. To some houses in Durham up the road from the Bus Station

(17 Jun 2026, 6:31 pm)X919 WGR wrote [ -> ]GCT ran a Short S1  between South Shields Town Centre and Little Haven.
ConnectorShuttle from Concord to the Vaccination Place down the road.
Go North East S1. Metrocentre Car Park (might aswell be called) Shuttle
GCT 61. To some houses in Durham up the road from the Bus Station

What distance would we consider short? 

South Shields S1 Circular - around 3km.
Connector Shuttle - Just under 5km in one direction
Metrocentre S1 Circular - around 3km
GCT 61 Circular - Over 5km

Another route I've thought of...
S2 - Metrocentre to Watermark - Around 1.5km in one direction - https://flickr.com/photos/gjm-photogenic/49118547863
A6 - Ashington Bus Station to Woodhorn Museum - 3.5km one way - https://flickr.com/photos/gjm-photogenic/38413664282

Mind I'm just trying to think of routes from the noughties. There is probably loads more if you go back to the 90s and the late 80s when the minibus boom came.

The S1 was a circular past the swimming baths in South Shields, it did a loop around Haven point and came back via Ocean Road.

Also we talking about the full route in general being short, we aren't talking about short workings.

Speaking of the S1 in South Shields, it did remind me of the South Shields Shuttle with ran from the Market to Gypsy Green roundabout, that was about 2.5km in one direction, and ran using open top Olympians. https://flickr.com/photos/gjm-photogenic/50814748077

Thought of another one
the 333 that ran North Shields Rudyerd Street down to the ferry landing

I'm not sure on the 333, was going to include it myself, but it operated more as a loop service, it did push the mileage up.

If it was just back and forth from Metro to Ferry down Borough Bank it would have been the perfect contender, but the fact it had extensions to Royal Quays (very first version when it was purple) and a loop around the fish quay muddies the water.

Did GCT not do a route from Killingworth Bus Station to Greenhills and back literately a new housing estate... think it was done with a bread van possibly 6 years ish ago

There was the Busways service 501 from South Shields Market to The Lawe .

Really surprised that Arriva’s 56A hasn’t been mentioned yet

Im counting this one
The 300 that ran North Shields-Howdon Road then back again
It was then replaced by an extended 333

Redby did a shortened version of the 500 which replaced the Stagecoach 500 (that used to go to the Hospital), and it was a 3km+ loop.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...6295923764

Then they replaced it briefly by a Taxibus TB500 / TB501 / TB502. 500 was as per above, whilst the 501 was the same as the S1 that they tried with Gateshead Central. And 502 went the other way around to the 501.

As for the TB300, very short lived. Ran from N Shields Metro via Minton Lane Estate (small estate behind the Parks Leisure Centre) before continuing along Howdon Road to terminate at the roundabout at Bridge Road (the one where you can see Meadowell Metro Station in the distance). Despite what things claim, it never went to Howdon, didn't even make it as far as East Howdon. Was a badly created route that could have been much more. It wasn't replaced by the 333. It was created due to the reduction in the 9A, and the 17/17A/317 whichever they were being called then being rerouted through the Royal Quays estate itself.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...0746942143

Another short one 13 Middlesbrough-Stockton high street timetables for 14 minutes

1 from Furness General Hospital-Biggar Bank

Last night I was looking at the route and one run was going from the roundhouse cafe to the Biggar Garth VIA Water Garth and Carr Lane that run took 3 minutes when the to and from place were both on the same road