Does weardale accept explorers?
And do they still have the X21?

No and yes (Versa on it today)

Weardale have acquired Optare Versa OP07 ARE on loan



Here’s a photo posted on a Facebook group

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(17 Jan 2019, 10:17 pm)TEN 6083 wrote Weardale have acquired Optare Solo OP07 ARE on loan



Here’s a photo posted on a Facebook group

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That's not a solo, it's a Versa as clearly shown on the side of the vehicle.

(17 Jan 2019, 10:17 pm)TEN 6083 wrote Weardale have acquired Optare Versa OP07 ARE on loan

Photo of it in the light on the 101 today:
Weardale Motor Services: OP07ARE by Matthew Jimmison, on Flickr

Also YouTube video of my ride on it here: https://youtu.be/mIrg0DYQt68

VDL SB180 / MCV Evolution YJ60GGF is now registered B6 WMS

Van Hool Astromega (C6 WMS) was the X21 this afternoon - https://www.flickr.com/photos/adammalark...ed-public/

Anyone know what it's previous reg plate was?

(18 Jan 2019, 6:46 pm)Jimmi wrote VDL SB180 / MCV Evolution YJ60GGF is now registered B6 WMS

B6 WMS has been repainted white
Weardale Motor Services: B6WMS by Matthew Jimmison, on Flickr

Weardale Motor Services YX19 OWA by kieron mathews, on Flickr

Weardale have ADL E200MMC YX19 OWA on loan which GNE recently had


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Another new addition for Weardale is Irizar i6 YT19KUY in Trafalgar livery


Weardale Coaches of Stanhope Irizar i6 Integral YT19KUY, with Trafalgar Tours vinyls, at Johnston Terrace, Edinburgh, on 10 June 2019. by Robin Dickson, on Flickr

A couple of additions to the fleet are as follows



SN57 DBX



Metrocity demonstrator YJ67 FXE

Photos courtesy of Anthony Clark posted onto Buses North East group on Facebook


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Weardale Motor Services YJ67 FXE by kieron mathews, on Flickr

YJ67 FXE has entered service today and is allocated to the 101 service

PB0002406/89 Registered (Short notice)
WEARDALE MOTOR SERVICES LTD
Route: Bishop Auckland Bus Station to Weardale Drive, Bishop Auckland
Service number: 9 ()
Service type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 03 Feb 2020

Weardale Y6 WMS. by Guy Park-Royal, on Flickr

(05 Feb 2020, 5:12 pm)GuyParkRoyal wrote PB0002406/89 Registered (Short notice)
WEARDALE MOTOR SERVICES LTD
Route: Bishop Auckland Bus Station to Weardale Drive, Bishop Auckland
Service number: 9 ()
Service type: Normal Stopping
Effective date: 03 Feb 2020

Weardale Y6 WMS. by Guy Park-Royal, on Flickr

I take it the route is supported by Durham Council?
I know a lot of people complained that they were going to have to walk further to get the bus now the 18/X21 no longer go around Woodhouse Estate.
Is it basically a copy and paste job of the old 18 route?

(05 Feb 2020, 5:49 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I take it the route is supported by Durham Council?
I know a lot of people complained that they were going to have to walk further to get the bus now the 18/X21 no longer go around Woodhouse Estate.
Is it basically a copy and paste job of the old 18 route?

Only dose handful of runs tho 9 50 till about half 2 ish

(05 Feb 2020, 5:49 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I take it the route is supported by Durham Council?
I know a lot of people complained that they were going to have to walk further to get the bus now the 18/X21 no longer go around Woodhouse Estate.
Is it basically a copy and paste job of the old 18 route?

Yes this was an emergency tender from Durham County Council.


Weardale have also won the 88 from Scarlet Band which runs off the new service 9.

(05 Feb 2020, 7:41 pm)Jimmi wrote Yes this was an emergency tender from Durham County Council.


Weardale have also won the 88 from Scarlet Band which runs off the new service 9.

That is a much better route than the 18 was, the fact that it doesn't go down Proudfoot Drive means it won't get as many of the 'characters'!

Few updates from the Weardale camp as I've been preparing their fleetlist - I'll try to get the online ones updated as soon as I can!
Fairly new additions here are (as above) ex Lothian Scania SN57DBX - now D6WMS - and a second is SK06AHG.
Also added is Solo YJ14BBF, B9R Elite YN10FKR from Selwyns, and brand new B8R Leopard 6YUP for the new X6 to Metrocentre - once we get back to normal timetables

(26 Apr 2020, 3:14 pm)tyresmoke wrote Few updates from the Weardale camp as I've been preparing their fleetlist - I'll try to get the online ones updated as soon as I can!
Fairly new additions here are (as above) ex Lothian Scania SN57DBX - now D6WMS - and a second is SK06AHG.
Also added is Solo YJ14BBF, B9R Elite YN10FKR from Selwyns, and brand new B8R Leopard 6YUP for the new X6 to Metrocentre - once we get back to normal timetables

What the route of the new X6?

(26 Apr 2020, 4:05 pm)Malarkey wrote What the route of the new X6?

Exactly the same as Weardale's X21 - all the X6 was going to be (as it was due to start in the coming days) is the X21 renumbered and retimed.

(26 Apr 2020, 4:08 pm)Kuyoyo wrote Exactly the same as Weardale's X21 - all the X6 was going to be (as it was due to start in the coming days) is the X21 renumbered and retimed.

With a handful of journeys re-routed via Lanchester as the X6A

X6/X6A timetables have appeared on the Nexus website:

X6: https://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/default/f...0520_0.pdf
X6A: https://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/default/f...090520.pdf

I wouldn't have bothered posting but I can't help but notice that the X6A is down as terminating St Bede's in Lanchester, rather than the Village. 

Looks very odd, though if it is coming from the Durham end it may be to try and serve the estates on the Consett side of the main village (next to the Jet garage and St Bede's Court behind the school). Very odd nevertheless.

(01 May 2020, 3:32 pm)S813 FVK wrote X6/X6A timetables have appeared on the Nexus website:

X6: https://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/default/f...0520_0.pdf
X6A: https://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/default/f...090520.pdf

I wouldn't have bothered posting but I can't help but notice that the X6A is down as terminating St Bede's in Lanchester, rather than the Village. 

Looks very odd, though if it is coming from the Durham end it may be to try and serve the estates on the Consett side of the main village (next to the Jet garage and St Bede's Court behind the school). Very odd nevertheless.

Nexus have cocked that up somewhat by only showing 'their' half of the timetable... the X6A as far as I am aware will be one run each direction through Crook, Tow Law and Lanchester upto Metrocentre and Newcastle effectively filling in the light run back to Crook.
Based on the Saturday timetable.... on that timetable the 0840 from Crook (0800 from Stanhope I think) will run to Newcastle, then continue and return as an X6A via Metrocentre, Lanchester and Tow Law to Crook and onto Stanhope. Then you've got the 1115(?) from Stanhope which continues from Crook as the 1155 to Newcastle, which returns as the 1400 (via Metrocentre) to Crook and Stanhope via the X6 route, then it'll run as an X6A back to Newcastle which Nexus have as the 1635 from Lanchester, then returning back via X6 route as the 1715 to Stanhope. 
Can't quite remember how it works on a weekday but that suggests there will only be one X6 each way.

EDIT: Having spoken to a Weardale member of staff what I put above is pretty much correct... the X6A will just be one run to Stanhope & back effectively filling in what would be a light run back, going back the direct way. St Bedes in Lanchester is purely just a 'flag of convienience' split point as much as anything else - nobody is likely to be using it to get to Metrocentre at 1635 in the afternoon.

That clears that up then - thanks for looking into it.

Totally get the point about the Lanchester timing point. The school just didn't seem like the natural place for it to finish (or go via as is actually the case).

(01 May 2020, 7:42 pm)S813 FVK wrote That clears that up then - thanks for looking into it.

Totally get the point about the Lanchester timing point. The school just didn't seem like the natural place for it to finish (or go via as is actually the case).

Hello. Didn’t think I could remember my password as not been on here for a very long time but it turns out that I’ve never logged out ?

The X6/X6A are my handywork; the X21 timetable was last altered in 2002 and Weardale weren’t really sure what to do with it as it didn’t really work anymore.

First thing was to ditch the X21 number as, although we used it first, the X21 is now more readily associated with Go North East and believe it or not, does cause some confusion in Newcastle. So I settled on using the number ‘6’ given its connections to Weardale.

I’ve put extra running time in and added some new stops to serve Meadowfield and Brandon, ad well as serve all of Tow Law. The Metrocentre will now be served after Newcastle, so that if the A1 is stuffed for some reason then we can divert via Low Fell, get into the Toon and then go against the traffic and serve Metrocentre.

The X6A is essentially a positioning journey, there is a bit of traffic especially in the summer with people from Newcastle having a ride to Stanhope for walks etc. I’ll have to speak to Nexus to advise them of the split route. It makes for a quick and scenic ride to Stanhope via the A692 and also stops at Hall Hill Farm, just outside of Lanchester, which doesn’t have a bus service so hopefully we can perhaps attract some passengers for there too!

I was looking forward to driving my X6 tomorrow but alas it’s not to be, hopefully not be too long though!

Former SB Travel Solos MX08DFY and SB10BUS are both in use now at Weardale.
Plaxton Tridents X6WMS and PN03UMF are being prepped for a return to use. Scania Omnidekka’s YN53RYA/F have arrived from Connexions. Hybrid Solo SR YJ13HLO is also here from MCT along with two more, to be converted to Euro6 diesel.
Olympians J639CEV & two others have been sold and exported. Elite YN10FKR and Solo SR YJ14BBF have also been sold.

(09 Jul 2020, 7:50 pm)tyresmoke wrote Former SB Travel Solos MX08DFY and SB10BUS are both in use now at Weardale.
Plaxton Tridents X6WMS and PN03UMF are being prepped for a return to use. Scania Omnidekka’s YN53RYA/F have arrived from Connexions. Hybrid Solo SR YJ13HLO is also here from MCT along with two more, to be converted to Euro6 diesel.
Olympians J639CEV & two others have been sold and exported. Elite YN10FKR and Solo SR YJ14BBF have also been sold.

SB10 BUS - https://www.flickr.com/photos/adammalarkey/50112857881/in/dateposted-public/

MX08 DFY - https://www.flickr.com/photos/adammalark...ed-public/

Weardale Motor Services P6 WMS by kieron mathews, on Flickr

Weardale’s X6 service has started today


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So are Weardale still running the X21 or is it just the X6 on a Saturday now?

They don't seem to have the timetable for the X6 on their website but Nexus and Bustimes shows both the X6 and X21

Does anyone know how much it costs from Metrocentre to Crook? Might actually work out cheaper than having to use GNE and Arriva when I'm going down to my mothers

(01 Aug 2020, 11:25 pm)streetdeckfan wrote So are Weardale still running the X21 or is it just the X6 on a Saturday now?

They don't seem to have the timetable for the X6 on their website but Nexus and Bustimes shows both the X6 and X21

Does anyone know how much it costs from Metrocentre to Crook? Might actually work out cheaper than having to use GNE and Arriva when I'm going down to my mothers

X6 is the replacement for the X21 running at similar times to the previous X21 service, it's currently running on a reduced timetable due to COVID on Saturdays (one journey in each direction), no Wednesday service atm.

Weardale could do with updating their website as the 9 & 88 ain't on there either.

(01 Aug 2020, 11:32 pm)Jimmi wrote X6 is the replacement for the X21 running at similar times to the previous X21 service, it's currently running on a reduced timetable due to COVID on Saturdays (one journey in each direction), no Wednesday service atm.

Weardale could do with updating their website as the 9 & 88 ain't on there either.

Thought so, just got a bit confused with the X21 being listed still!

Is the 9 still running? I haven't seen it recently