What were we consulting about?
We were seeking customer feedback on our plans to cancel service 51 between Holystone – Whitley Bay and to amend the route/frequency of service W2 in Whitley Bay.
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 these two, with marginal customer numbers. This allowed us to continue to review these routes 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 51 currently operates hourly throughout each day between Newcastle – Whitley Bay. Nexus pays for Monday – Saturday daytime trips between Holystone – Whitley Bay and daily evening/Sunday daytime trips between Newcastle – Whitley Bay.
We are proposing to cancel all 51 trips between Holystone – Whitley Bay.
Service W2 currently operates half-hourly Monday – Saturday daytime between Whitley Bay Metro – Brierdene. This service is fully paid for by Nexus.
We are proposing to extend the route of service W2 to additionally serve Beaumont Park, Red House Farm, Sainsbury’s and Earsdon Village. The new W2 would operate at a reduced hourly frequency between 0700 – 2330 Monday – Saturday and 0830 – 2230 on a Sunday.
How would customers be affected by our proposed changes?
Service 51
Most sections of the 51 route between Holystone – Whitley Bay are covered by alternative bus services. The unique sections of route in Earsdon Village, Red House Farm, Beaumont Park and Whitley Lodge would all be covered by the revised W2 service. Some customers may be required to transfer between bus services and/or the Metro in order to access their destination. Some customers may be required to purchase multi-operator tickets to allow travel on services provided by different operators. Alternative facilities for access to/from Newcastle city centre are summarised in the table below.
Area | Alternative access for Newcastle |
Whitley Lodge/Beaumont Park | Revised service W2 to Whitley Bay Town Centre for bus & Metro connections to Newcastle. |
Red House Farm/Earsdon Village | Services 57/57a to West Monkseaton Metro for onward connections to Newcastle.
|
Shiremoor | Direct connections to Newcastle available using services 54, 309 or the Metro. |
West Allotment | Walk to Northumberland Park station for access to Metro, or service 53 to Palmersville for Metro connections to Newcastle. |
Service W2
Most sections of the W2 route will continue to be served, but with a reduced hourly frequency. The new route would operate between Whitley Bay Metro – Brierdene direct via Claremont Road. Buses would then serve the existing route around Brierdene, before continuing from Whitley Lodge towards Earsdon Village via the current 51 route. Buses would no longer serve Cragside in Whitley Lodge, but bus stops on Woodburn Drive at either end of Cragside would be served as an alternative. Residents in Brierdene would gain new direct links to/from Sainsbury’s (Red House Farm) and a new hourly evening/Sunday service.
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 282 responses from customers. The vast majority of customers were strongly opposed to our plans.
If view of the feedback received we have decided not to progress our planned changes.
The level of service to be provided with effect from 26 March 2023 is summarised below:
- Service 51 will operate to a revised hourly daytime service between Newcastle – Whitley Bay (following the current route and still operated by Arriva).
- Daily late evening trips on service 51 will operate between Newcastle – Holystone Park only, these trips will be operated by a different operator but Arriva tickets/passes will continue to be accepted.
- Service W2 will continue to operate with the same route/timetable/operator
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide us with their views.