GNE confirm the end of the OK1..
The OK1 Expressway ends after service on Saturday 10 August

Date: 27 Jun 2013

After an 18 month trial the OK1 Expressway service will end after its final journey on Saturday 10 August 2013.

We'd like to thank everyone who has used the OK1 and we're sorry that we can no longer operate this service.

Beginning as an experimental Go North East service in January 2012, the OK1 aimed to provide a new bus link from St Helen Auckland and West Auckland to Darlington and a faster service from Crook and Bishop Auckland. The service was then extended in November 2012 non stop from Darlington to Middlesbrough to give a direct bus link from the Wear Valley area and to attract new users.
Unfortunately whilst passenger numbers grew initially numbers have remained low except for a few busy journeys and as such the service is just not sustainable to operate in the longer term.
Go North East will continue to innovate and look for new opportunities to pilot bus services such as the OK1.