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A new Taxi-Bus will run six times a day connecting neighbourhoods in Birtley Northside with the centre of the Gateshead village. The new TB14 service is the latest in a series of Taxi-Buses launched by Nexus to meet the needs of people in areas of small but acute demand – often on the urban fringes of Tyne and Wear. The TB14 – a large taxi provided by local firm Robinsons of Hebburn – will operate a circular route every hour Monday to Friday from Monday, 1 September. It will pick up passengers on a ‘hail and ride’ basis, wherever it is safe to do so, on streets without bus stops. Bernard Garner, Director General of Nexus, said: “Our Taxi-Buses have proved very useful in serving neighbourhoods with small but acute demand for public transport. “Birtley Northside is now linked to the village centre six times a day – this is a good example of how Nexus designs travel to meet individual people’s need, depending on where they live and where they need to get to.” Without the Taxi-Bus residents in Northside faced a longer walk down to the main Durham Road to catch buses into the village centre. The TB14 will provide a direct route for residents to shops, post office and medical centres in Birtley. It also links with fast, frequent and convenient main bus services on Durham Road, Birtley - including the 21 The Angel every few minutes to Gateshead Interchange, Newcastle and Chester-le-Street. The TB14 replaces the northern part of the 23/23A Classic Coaches bus service, being withdrawn at the end of August. It also brings a bus service back to Malone Gardens for the first time in several years. Existing Taxi-Bus services provided by Nexus include routes at Eighton Banks, Gateshead, Lawe Top, South Shields, Dairy Lane and Fence Houses, Houghton-le-Spring, and Winlaton Mill, and Blaydon, Gateshead. More than 100 passengers every week use Taxi-Bus services. The new Birtley Northside Taxi-Bus runs hourly from 9.55am to 3.05pm, on the following route: Malone Gardens, Selkirk Crescent, Highridge, Mount Road, Birtley Lane, Durham Road, Harras Bank, Birtley Lane, Mount Road, Highridge, Selkirk Crescent, Malone Gardens.
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