Planned changes to service 35 in Newcastle
Most bus routes in Tyne and Wear are operated commercially by private bus companies with no direct financial support from Nexus. It is the responsibility of Nexus to identify those routes that are not provided commercially or are not provided commercially at certain times of day (normally evenings and Sunday) and where there is a social need. Nexus may then pay bus operators to provide these socially necessary services, normally after a tendering process. Nexus currently spend £21.9m per annum supporting local services. This is funded from the levy on local councils and funding from the bus service improvement plan or other grants. Nexus contracts are typically awarded for a one-year period to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of customers and offer value for money. Our current contracts in Newcastle and North Tyneside are due to expire in March 2025 and based on customer feedback we are planning some changes. Before issuing tenders to progress these changes, we would appreciate your views.
Our Plan
Our plan is to change the route and timetable for service 35 with effect from March 2025. We intend to restore the former route between the city centre (Pilgrim Street) and Red House Farm, operating direct via Great North Road and Gosforth High Street. The revised timetable for service 35 would operate half-hourly Monday – Saturday daytime and hourly during each evening and Sunday daytime. The current section of route between Central Station and Monument (provided Monday – Saturday daytime only) would no longer operate. To improve reliability, we are also proposing to introduce a minor change to the Monday – Saturday daytime route in the Coxlodge area. Here, we propose that trips towards Fawdon should operate direct from Kenton Road onto Jubilee Road (missing out Welford Avenue). Return trips towards Newcastle would then continue to operate via Welford Avenue, as now. Customers travelling from Newcastle or Gosforth High Street towards Welford Avenue would need to walk from the stops on Kenton Road, or alternatively would be permitted to remain on the bus past Red House Farm to alight on Welford Avenue during the return trip back towards Newcastle.
A draft of our proposed 35 timetable effective from March 2025 (subject to consultation feedback) is available below to help you better understand our plan.
Impact
The number of buses serving Osborne Road would be reduced from 5 per hour to 3 per hour Monday – Saturday daytime, from 3 per hour to 2 per hour Sunday daytime and from 2 per hour to 1 per hour each evening. Residents on Osborne Road would no longer have a direct bus to Central Station. However, access to Central Station would still be possible with interchange between bus services, or directly using the Metro.
Residents in Fawdon (Red House Farm) would continue to be served with a direct bus link to Gosforth High Street and Newcastle city centre, operating up to every 30 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime and hourly evening and Sunday. Alternative direct links between Fawdon, Coxlodge, Gosforth and Central Station would continue to be provided by Stagecoach services 30/31. Operating the 35 service direct between Gosforth High Street – Newcastle via Great North Road will offer faster journey times for customers.
Welford Avenue (Coxlodge) would continue to be served by the 35, but only on trips towards Newcastle. This change is considered necessary to make the service more reliable (the slightly shorter route reduces the distance that buses need to travel each hour, giving longer recovery time between trips and helping to ensure that the service can follow the timetable better). Customers travelling from Newcastle or Gosforth High Street towards Coxlodge would instead need to get off the bus on Kenton Road (stop 08402) and walk through to Welford Avenue (approx. 300m), or alternatively remain on the bus and then alight on the return trip back towards Newcastle (customers travelling from Newcastle or Gosforth High Street to Welford Avenue via Red House Farm would typically be on the bus an extra 14 minutes compared to the current arrangement where Welford Avenue is served in both directions).
Background
Osborne Road was previously served by services 33/33a which were funded by Nexus. Service 33 operated half hourly Monday to Saturday daytime between Hollywood Avenue and Newcastle via Gosforth High Street and Osborne Road. Service 33a operated hourly during evening and on Sunday following the same route as service 33 but extended to Fawdon Mormon Church. In March 2021, Go North East decided to divert their service Q3 via Osborne Road without financial support from Nexus. With Osborne Road being served on a commercial basis, Nexus could no longer justify the use of public funds to support services 33 and 33a. These routes were therefore cancelled. A new service X46 was introduced and funded by Nexus to maintain a provision for Hollywood Avenue. The evening/Sunday direct link between Fawdon and Newcastle was not replaced as passenger numbers did not warrant a service for this area alone. In March 2022, Go North East advised Nexus that the Q3 (Osborne Road section) was no longer viable and they were planning to divert the service back onto Great North Road. To maintain access to a bus service on Osborne Road, Nexus provided financial support to Go North East to keep the Q3 on Osborne Road until a full review of provision could be made.
In November 2023, Nexus consulted with stakeholders on a proposal to cancel financial support for the Q3 diversion (via Osborne Road) and instead reallocate the funding towards a revised service 35 operating between Newcastle Central Station – Fawdon Red House Farm via city centre, Osborne Road and Gosforth High Street. The plan consulted upon included the proposed introduction of an hourly evening and Sunday service. Our plan assumed that removing the subsidy for the Q3 would trigger Go North East to divert their route back onto Great North Road, as they had previously indicated.
In March 2024, Nexus launched the revised service 35 operating half-hourly Monday – Saturday daytime between Central Station – Red House Farm and new hourly evening/Sunday trips between Newcastle – Red House Farm. The revised 35 service was diverted via Osborne Road as planned, following strong support from stakeholders during the Nexus consultation. However, despite the loss of public subsidy, Go North East continued to operate their Q3 service via Osborne Road. This decision (which as a private bus operator they are entitled to make) meant that Osborne Road is being served by the Q3 (every 20 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime, every 30 minutes Sunday daytime and hourly each evening) and the publicly funded service 35 (every 30 minutes Monday – Saturday daytime and hourly during each evening and Sunday daytime).
In September 2024, Go North East introduced a new route/timetable for the Q3 service in response to contract changes at Newcastle Great Park. The new Q3 timetable includes a commitment from Go North East to continue serving Osborne Road on a largely commercial basis (some late evening Sunday – Friday trips on the Q3 are now funded by Nexus). The funding we have allocated to divert service 35 via Osborne Road is therefore no longer justified (as there is already a privately operated service providing the necessary links).
Your views?
This consultation is now closed.
All feedback received before 5pm on Friday 11 October 2024 will be taken into consideration.
Results will be published once a decision has been made.