(03 Jan 2018, 3:52 pm)Jimmi wrote Here's the info on service changs as I'm sure everyone wants to know them.

From 28 January 2018, there will be changes to a number of services. These changes are designed to improve reliability, and to better match where our services run with where people are travelling to.

Details of each of the changes are listed below, along with links to new timetables for each service.

Whey Aye Five-0 – service 5
This service will be extended from Jarrow to North Shields via the Tyne Tunnel, replacing service 9 on this section of route.
Service 5 will no longer serve Morrisons in Jarrow.
In Jarrow Bus Station, the service will use stand B towards South Shields and stand D towards North Shields.
There will be minor changes to the timetable of journeys between Jarrow and South Shields as a consequence of this extended route.

Service 9
This service will continue to run up to every 20 minutes between Jarrow, The Boldons and Sunderland.
The section of route between Jarrow and North Shields will be replaced by service 5
From Jarrow, service 9 will now run to Lukes Lane Estate, via Argyle Street, Lyon Street, Hebburn Town Centre, Hartleyburn Estate and Monkton Lane Estate, replacing this section of services 88/88A.
From Sunderland, the service will be extended to Murton via New Seaham and Dalton Park, replacing service 61, and offering new cross-town connections.
In Jarrow Bus Station, the service will depart from Stand A towards Sunderland and Stand D towards Lukes Lane.
In Park Lane Interchange, the service will depart from Stand F towards Jarrow, and Stand C towards Murton.

Crusader 27 and new Crusader service 26
There will be more journeys to Newcastle, with buses between Newcastle and Jarrow now running up to every 10 minutes on Monday-Saturday daytimes, and every 15 minutes on Sunday daytimes. Journeys will continue to run every 30 minutes on evenings.
Between Jarrow and South Shields, journeys will run every 20 minutes as service 27 on the current route via Tyne Dock, and every 20 minutes as service 26 via Primrose, South Leam and South Tyneside Hospital, replacing this section of services 88 and 88A.
This offers new direct connections to Newcastle from areas such as York Avenue, Primrose and South Leam.
In Jarrow Bus Station, services 26 and 27 will use stand E towards Newcastle. Service 26 towards South Shields will use stand A, with service 27 towards South Shields using stand C.

Venture 30
A small number of early morning and early evening journeys are retimed.

See It Do It 35 and 36
There will be some changes to the times of some morning, early evening and Saturday journeys to improve reliability.
In Houghton-le-Spring, service 36 towards Chester-le-Street will now stop at stop number 31H05 instead of 31H04. Other stops in Houghton-le-Spring are unchanged.

Whey Aye Five-0 – service 50
There will be minor changes to times to improve reliability.

Drifter 60
There will be minor changes to the times of a small number of journeys to improve reliability.

Black Cats 61
This service will be replaced by extended service 9.
The route of new service 9 will be the same as the current service 61, with buses running between Sunderland and Murton every 20 minutes on Monday-Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes on evenings and Sundays.

Service 64
Due to low passenger numbers, the journey which departs Gateshead at 6.08pm on weekdays will no longer run.

Service 67
There will be minor changes to the timetable to improve reliability.

Service 69
The route of this service will be revised in Winlaton.
It will now run a one-way loop, running from Blaydon to Winlaton direct via Blaydon Bank, then returning from Winlaton to Blaydon on the current route via Parkhead Estate.
Anyone wishing to travel to Parkhead Estate will be able to stay on board the bus at Winlaton without the need to buy another ticket.
Evening and Sunday journeys will continue to run direct on Blaydon Bank in both directions.
There will be some minor changes to the timetable as a consequence of this revised route to improve reliability.

South Tyne 88 & 88A
We know services 88 and 88A have not been as reliable as they should be in recent months. We’ve been working hard to deliver a solution for this, and revised services in South Tyneside will not only improve reliability for all services involved, but also offer a number of new direct connections.
Between Jarrow and South Shields, service 88 and 88A will be replaced by new Crusader service 26.
Between Jarrow and Lukes Lane, service 88 and 88A will be replaced by service 9.
New service H1 will provide direct connections between Hebburn and South Tyneside Hospital between approximately 9.30am and 2.30pm.

Loop 93/94
The journey at 3.10pm from Gateshead on weekdays is retimed two minutes earlier.

Service 95
the journey at 5.46pm from Lobley Hill to Gateshead on weekdays will no longer run due to low passenger numbers.

New Service H1
New service H1 will provide direct connections between Hebburn and South Tyneside Hospital between approximately 9.30am and 2.30pm.

Metrocentre Mini M6, M7 & M8
There will be minor changes to the timetable to improve reliability, and offer more journeys in the afternoon from Metrocentre.
There will also be an extra journey on schooldays from Fellside Road (for Whickham School) to Burnopfield
The service will now observe all stops, including at Swalwell Monument and MetrOasis.

Wear Xpress X6 & X7
This service will now depart from Stand A in Sunderland Park Lane Interchange.
There are no other changes to this service.

ToonLink X30 & X31
Weekday journeys at 3.02pm and 3.17pm from Stanley are retimed two minutes earlier.

ToonLink X70 & X71
Weekday journey at 9.10am from Newcastle is retimed to 9am.

Tynedale Express X84 & X85
The are minor changes to the times of journeys to improve reliability.

(03 Jan 2018, 3:52 pm)Jimmi wrote Here's the info on service changs as I'm sure everyone wants to know them.

From 28 January 2018, there will be changes to a number of services. These changes are designed to improve reliability, and to better match where our services run with where people are travelling to.

Details of each of the changes are listed below, along with links to new timetables for each service.

Whey Aye Five-0 – service 5
This service will be extended from Jarrow to North Shields via the Tyne Tunnel, replacing service 9 on this section of route.
Service 5 will no longer serve Morrisons in Jarrow.
In Jarrow Bus Station, the service will use stand B towards South Shields and stand D towards North Shields.
There will be minor changes to the timetable of journeys between Jarrow and South Shields as a consequence of this extended route.

Service 9
This service will continue to run up to every 20 minutes between Jarrow, The Boldons and Sunderland.
The section of route between Jarrow and North Shields will be replaced by service 5
From Jarrow, service 9 will now run to Lukes Lane Estate, via Argyle Street, Lyon Street, Hebburn Town Centre, Hartleyburn Estate and Monkton Lane Estate, replacing this section of services 88/88A.
From Sunderland, the service will be extended to Murton via New Seaham and Dalton Park, replacing service 61, and offering new cross-town connections.
In Jarrow Bus Station, the service will depart from Stand A towards Sunderland and Stand D towards Lukes Lane.
In Park Lane Interchange, the service will depart from Stand F towards Jarrow, and Stand C towards Murton.

Crusader 27 and new Crusader service 26
There will be more journeys to Newcastle, with buses between Newcastle and Jarrow now running up to every 10 minutes on Monday-Saturday daytimes, and every 15 minutes on Sunday daytimes. Journeys will continue to run every 30 minutes on evenings.
Between Jarrow and South Shields, journeys will run every 20 minutes as service 27 on the current route via Tyne Dock, and every 20 minutes as service 26 via Primrose, South Leam and South Tyneside Hospital, replacing this section of services 88 and 88A.
This offers new direct connections to Newcastle from areas such as York Avenue, Primrose and South Leam.
In Jarrow Bus Station, services 26 and 27 will use stand E towards Newcastle. Service 26 towards South Shields will use stand A, with service 27 towards South Shields using stand C.

Venture 30
A small number of early morning and early evening journeys are retimed.

See It Do It 35 and 36
There will be some changes to the times of some morning, early evening and Saturday journeys to improve reliability.
In Houghton-le-Spring, service 36 towards Chester-le-Street will now stop at stop number 31H05 instead of 31H04. Other stops in Houghton-le-Spring are unchanged.

Whey Aye Five-0 – service 50
There will be minor changes to times to improve reliability.

Drifter 60
There will be minor changes to the times of a small number of journeys to improve reliability.

Black Cats 61
This service will be replaced by extended service 9.
The route of new service 9 will be the same as the current service 61, with buses running between Sunderland and Murton every 20 minutes on Monday-Saturday daytimes and every 30 minutes on evenings and Sundays.

Service 64
Due to low passenger numbers, the journey which departs Gateshead at 6.08pm on weekdays will no longer run.

Service 67
There will be minor changes to the timetable to improve reliability.

Service 69
The route of this service will be revised in Winlaton.
It will now run a one-way loop, running from Blaydon to Winlaton direct via Blaydon Bank, then returning from Winlaton to Blaydon on the current route via Parkhead Estate.
Anyone wishing to travel to Parkhead Estate will be able to stay on board the bus at Winlaton without the need to buy another ticket.
Evening and Sunday journeys will continue to run direct on Blaydon Bank in both directions.
There will be some minor changes to the timetable as a consequence of this revised route to improve reliability.

South Tyne 88 & 88A
We know services 88 and 88A have not been as reliable as they should be in recent months. We’ve been working hard to deliver a solution for this, and revised services in South Tyneside will not only improve reliability for all services involved, but also offer a number of new direct connections.
Between Jarrow and South Shields, service 88 and 88A will be replaced by new Crusader service 26.
Between Jarrow and Lukes Lane, service 88 and 88A will be replaced by service 9.
New service H1 will provide direct connections between Hebburn and South Tyneside Hospital between approximately 9.30am and 2.30pm.

Loop 93/94
The journey at 3.10pm from Gateshead on weekdays is retimed two minutes earlier.

Service 95
the journey at 5.46pm from Lobley Hill to Gateshead on weekdays will no longer run due to low passenger numbers.

New Service H1
New service H1 will provide direct connections between Hebburn and South Tyneside Hospital between approximately 9.30am and 2.30pm.

Metrocentre Mini M6, M7 & M8
There will be minor changes to the timetable to improve reliability, and offer more journeys in the afternoon from Metrocentre.
There will also be an extra journey on schooldays from Fellside Road (for Whickham School) to Burnopfield
The service will now observe all stops, including at Swalwell Monument and MetrOasis.

Wear Xpress X6 & X7
This service will now depart from Stand A in Sunderland Park Lane Interchange.
There are no other changes to this service.

ToonLink X30 & X31
Weekday journeys at 3.02pm and 3.17pm from Stanley are retimed two minutes earlier.

ToonLink X70 & X71
Weekday journey at 9.10am from Newcastle is retimed to 9am.

Tynedale Express X84 & X85
The are minor changes to the times of journeys to improve reliability.

(03 Jan 2018, 7:44 pm)Andreos1 wrote I find that H1 service almost laughable. I assume STH visiting times don't extend beyond mid-afternoon?

(03 Jan 2018, 7:41 pm)Panasonic44 wrote [Crusader 27 and new Crusader service 26
There will be more journeys to Newcastle, with buses between Newcastle and Jarrow now running up to every 10 minutes on Monday-Saturday daytimes, and every 15 minutes on Sunday daytimes. Journeys will continue to run every 30 minutes on evenings.
Between Jarrow and South Shields, journeys will run every 20 minutes as service 27 on the current route via Tyne Dock, and every 20 minutes as service 26 via Primrose, South Leam and South Tyneside Hospital, replacing this section of services 88 and 88A.
This offers new direct connections to Newcastle from areas such as York Avenue, Primrose and South Leam.
In Jarrow Bus Station, services 26 and 27 will use stand E towards Newcastle. Service 26 towards South Shields will use stand A, with service 27 towards South Shields using stand C.]


Jarrow Stand A 26 should be with 27 @ stand C not to confuse people.

Anyword about Ticket prices and what services included? because they will need New Day & Weekly Ticket South Tyneside & Crusader?


[New Service H1
New service H1 will provide direct connections between Hebburn and South Tyneside Hospital between approximately 9.30am and 2.30pm.]

This service will not last for long due to 2:30pm end time esp with Hosptial Visting times in Afternoon 2 to 4pm and 7-8pm would have been better to end it at 8:30pm.

It should be 9am to 8:30pm non stop Hourly, serving Shields Town Centre, Hospital, Jarrow Bus Station and Hebburn Town Centre only. That would get more people using it? I think GNE may choose omnicity as stand in for 6 months if not they should use Solo bus.

(03 Jan 2018, 7:56 pm)Dan wrote Of course; you'd also be assuming that there's a high demand for a direct service to the hospital from Hebburn, too, if you're suggesting that the current service level is better (or not as 'laughable'), providing a direct link between these two locations all day long.

I wonder what Go North East's ticket data would suggest? I would assume it suggests there isn't such a high demand, or they wouldn't be changing the services as they stand?

(03 Jan 2018, 8:59 pm)Andreos1 wrote When Kickstart was giving support and Partnerships were launched, https://www.nexus.org.uk/news/item/south-tyneside-better-bus-network-launched it would be easy to assume that improvements would be made and maintained. Particularly with services that provided a social need.

Whilst I appreciate the 88 may have suffered with reliability over the last however many months, I wouldn't have guessed it would have caused so much damage that the service was no longer viable. Particularly one which has hundreds of people going in and out of the hospital building it passes on a daily basis - both before and after this H1 starts and finishes for the day.

Indeed, the excuses regarding reliability have been trotted out (despite the works at Lindisfarne being completed for a number of months), rather than any references to viability (as seen in the extract Jimmi provided regarding the 64/95).

It also looks like the H1 service is designed around scholars contracts (correct me if I am wrong).
Changes to suit GNE's agenda or one to accomodate passenger requirements?

(04 Jan 2018, 2:12 pm)S813 FVK wrote Looks like we are finally starting to get somewhere regarding the details of the changes being officially published - the new timetables are being uploaded to the site.

The new 9 branding is certainly something...

(04 Jan 2018, 4:38 pm)S813 FVK wrote Currently finding it weird how all M6/M7/M8s from Metrocentre after the 16:24 M8 appear to terminate at Tanfield Lea. Mistake or done to reduce dead mileage due to not many people travelling to Stanley on those services?

(04 Jan 2018, 4:52 pm)citaro5284 wrote I reckon a typo, as they are leaving the Bus Station heading to the Metrocentre.

(03 Jan 2018, 7:37 pm)Michael wrote Thanks Jimmi, i couldn't get it to copy and paste from the email on my phone....


Wonder if service 73 will move from stand S to R in Park Lane, that leaves stands S-V empty for drop offs.

(04 Jan 2018, 3:32 pm)Malarkey wrote Should've went with the brand that they had planned when the former silver mercs (5320-5324) were on the 61 a few years back, sure there was an image of it uploaded somewhere.

(04 Jan 2018, 7:13 pm)Northern4555 wrote Still waiting to see the new south Tyneside timetables

(04 Jan 2018, 7:16 pm)Malarkey wrote There on the GNE Website, just type the service number in the search bar

(04 Jan 2018, 7:32 pm)S813 FVK wrote Just to add, for anyone looking for the H1 timetable, it is on the 88/88A tabs

(04 Jan 2018, 8:21 pm)Ds1197 wrote Will Percy Main run the evening and Sunday shorts on the 5 between Jarrow and North Shields

(04 Jan 2018, 7:16 pm)Malarkey wrote There on the GNE Website, just type the service number in the search bar

(04 Jan 2018, 7:37 pm)Michael wrote What a pointless timetable........ same as the 64 and 95...

(04 Jan 2018, 8:50 pm)Northern4555 wrote As well as pointless it is absolutely disgraceful.starts around 9am to 2.30 pm  3 full runs and 2 part runs, is as much use as a bus with square wheels . 1st bus starts blackett st jarrow, also by passes jarrow bus station,what is that about,deliberately keeping this service away from 26/27 routes as much as possible.hospital visiting times go on to 8pm so why curtail a hospital bus in mid afternoon. If ever I saw a bus route set up to fail this is it.Gne want to be ashamed of treating their customers in this way.

(04 Jan 2018, 9:00 pm)Crusader wrote I’m guessing the service has been put on to keep direct links to the Hospital from parts of the 88 which would lose it with the new 26. So why would it serve Jarrow bus station? If the point of the service is to go to the Hospital then it doesn’t need to serve Jarrow. 

A 2.30pm finish isn’t any good for visitors. But maybe this bus is for patients? Anyone going to a outpatient appointment might be a bit poorly and needs the direct bus. Visitors are more likely to be able to change buses in jarrow?

I’m sure Go North East don’t deliberately aim to annoy their customers...that wouldn’t be very good business!

(04 Jan 2018, 9:27 pm)Northern4555 wrote Going back to approx 2009 and the 88/88a was bus route 16 from lukeslane following 88 route to jarrow.it then went direct to Tyne dock upto hospital,Harmon nook horsey hill marsden inn coast rd tofairground onto market.this route was a reasonable route covering areas in Hebburn jarrow southshields and even the chance for a visit to the sea front without the long walk for many struggling to just get out.this bus stopped running past nook at approx 5-6 pm terminating on the housing estate next to hospital.then from approx 9.30pm it only ran jarrow bus station to Luke's lane for rest of the eveni

(04 Jan 2018, 10:20 pm)Ds1197 wrote The old 16 was very popular with passengers,but GNE changed it saying it was again lack of numbers.this route still exists in part as  nexus 516 from hospital running old route back to market.surely a link up with that route paid by nexus on tender I agree,to the full 16 route reinstated would be better than this H1 is going to be,and 26 I'm not sure about the delays on this service as we see on 27 now a various times.just saying I think there are better options about.


Even though I think this is basically the route the 16 took but I think it would of made more sense to extend the 516 to Luke's lane instead of creating the trail service of H1

(04 Jan 2018, 10:32 pm)Northern4555 wrote You should be a GNE route planner,makes perfect sense