What were we consulting about?
We are seeking customer feedback on our proposal to cancel some Monday - Saturday morning and evening trips on service W1 between Whitley Bay – Earsdon Grange.
This consultation has now closed, and all feedback received will be reviewed. The final decision on this proposal will be published here.
Why are we considering changes to services?
In March 2022 Nexus carried out a widespread review of local bus services in Newcastle and North Tyneside at a time when commercial companies were making cuts to their own routes. As part of this rescue package we introduced or kept on a number of routes, including this one, with marginal customer numbers. This allowed us to continue to review the route to see if passenger numbers would grow over time. Contracts for bus services that we currently fund in Newcastle and North Tyneside are due to end in March 2023 and we have now looked in detail at how the current contracts are performing. This review has highlighted some services which we consider are no longer offering good value for money due mainly to a long-term change in travel patterns following the pandemic. Cancelling these poorly performing services would allow the limited amount of funding that we have available to be spent on maintaining or improving services in areas that are less able to access alternative bus services.
What changes are we proposing?
Service W1 currently operates hourly (0730 – 1930) Monday – Saturday daytime between Whitley Bay – Earsdon Grange.
We are proposing to cancel the Monday – Saturday 0730/1830 trips from Whitley Bay Metro to Earsdon Grange. During September 2022 an average of 0 customers per trip travelled on the 0730 trip and an average of 2 customers per trip travelled on the 1830 departure.
We are proposing to cancel the Monday – Saturday 1800/1900 trips from Earsdon Grange to Whitley Bay Metro. During September 2022 an average of 1 customer per trip travelled on the 1800 and 1900 departures.
How would customers be affected by our proposed changes?
The first W1 bus from Whitley Bay Metro (towards Earsdon Grange) would depart at 0830 with the last trip then leaving at 1730.
The first W1 bus from Earsdon Grange (towards Whitley Bay Metro) would depart at 0800 as now with the last trip leaving at 1700.
Customers wishing to travel outside of the new W1 operating hours would be required to use the Metro or alternative bus services (Arriva services 57/57a). Some customers may be required to walk further distances to access alternative services.
Your views
This consultation was open from Tuesday 3 January – Monday 30 January 2023. All feedback received on or before 30 January 2023 was taken into consideration.
During the consultation we received 8 responses from customers. 5 customers were opposed to the planned changes, 2 customers suggested an alternate route should be adopted (to serve Marine Avenue between Monkseaton – Whitley Bay) and 1 customer supported the planned changes. We recognise that the links offered by this service are valued by our customers. Cancelling some poorly used early morning/evening trips will allow us to release some resource which can be used to sustain trips on the daytime service where demand is much higher.
We have therefore decided to progress our planned changes. A new timetable will be introduced for service W1 with effect from Monday 27 March 2023. The route of the daytime service will continue un-changed. We were unable to honour requests for this service to divert via Marine Drive between Whitley Bay – Monkseaton as the journey time via this route is longer and cannot be accommodated within the resource available.
Following contract changes, this service will be operated by a different operator.
We appreciate that where services are withdrawn or change a small number of people may have difficulty accessing alternative transport – if you are concerned you will not be able to make a journey contact us at [email protected] or on 0191 2020 747 so we may offer advice and support.
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide us with their views.