Travelling to schools & colleges

School bus services during Coronavirus

Bus companies and Nexus will provide extra buses to get pupils to and from schools across Tyne and Wear. The extra buses, supported by Government funding, are on top of normal services and dedicated home-school routes so pupils can travel in line with public health advice on Covid-19. Nexus has the following advice;

• Families should plan how their children will reach schools and colleges comfortably – walking and cycling where journeys are shorter, using a car for part of the journey but dropping off away from school gates, and identifying which public transport they can use if they need to.
• There will be extra buses on many services going to or near schools, following established routes. These will include buses on busy routes so pupils can travel separately to other passengers.
• Pupils using public transport should have exact change to make their journey wherever possible.
• Anyone using public transport should follow standard public health advice – washing hands thoroughly throughout the day, wearing a face covering if aged over 11 and not exempt, and not travelling if they have symptoms of Covid-19.

Dedicated school bus services

To help get schoolchildren to school from places where normal bus services don’t run, Nexus pays for special school bus services. To find the school bus services for your school, simply click on the link below, for your district. These are the school bus services for the 2020/21 academic year.

Gateshead school bus services
Newcastle school bus services
North Tyneside school bus services
South Tyneside school bus services
Sunderland school bus services

For further information, please contact Nexus Customer Services on 0191 20 20 747 for all public transport advice and information.

Normal bus services

To check whether you can travel to school on a normal bus service:

• Try our LIve Travel Map  by clicking here - simply enter your school's name, your home postcode and journey time to find your bus and Metro options. You can get Real-Time information here.
• Or call Nexus Customer Services on 0191 20 20 747 for all public transport advice and information.
• Please note: on some occasions duplicate buses may be provided to help with capacities.  These buses will be labelled with an 'S'.

Metro

If you or your child travels to school by Metro, click here for the latest travel updates and information on what we’ve done to make the network Covid-secure.

Rail

If your child normally travels to school by train, please check with the operator for timetable information. Please note:

• anyone aged 11 or older is required to wear a face covering on trains (and other public transport) unless they are exempt,
• further information, including advice about travelling by train and links to local operators can be found here

Ticketing

If you are considering buying a season ticket or pass for a particular bus company, please check that both the morning and afternoon journeys are provided by the same company. Alternatively, a School Pass is valid on all services.

Find out about Junior blue, the new smart way to pay for travel for children aged 15 and under here

For more information about travel for children aged 16 and under, click here.

Here's all the information you'll need to get around by public transport if you're a student:

Find out what we're doing to make your journey Covid secure here.

Planning your journey

• Use our interactive Live Travel Map to see the next bus, Metro, train and Shields Ferry times from every stop and station in Tyne and Wear and to plan your journey. Bus times are Real-Time where available - which means it's the time the bus is expected to actually leave your stop.
• If you know the number of the bus you need, click here to find the timetable.
• Metro timetables are here

Tickets and passes

Finding the best ticket for you will depend on what type of transport you use.

• If you're 16 or over and travelling on a dedicated school bus service you can travel for a flat fare of 90p.
• You can get discounts on adult fares when you're aged 16-18.
  • If you're only travelling by bus, information about single and day tickets is here, or season tickets is here.
  • Click here for Metro season tickets or here for single and day fares with a Pop blue card.
  • Or if you're travelling by both bus and Metro click here.

Pop blue

Pop blue is the smart way to pay for your travel in North East England if you're aged 18 or under. Just load a balance onto your Pop blue card and use it to pay for journeys as you make them. A Pop blue card gives you special discounted fares on Metro that are much cheaper than buying adult Single or Day Tickets. You can also use your Pop blue balance on the bus and the Shields Ferry but it works differently, see our Pop blue FAQs for full details. Get your Pop blue card online here.

Here's all the information you'll need to get around by public transport if you're a student:

Find out what we're doing to make your journey Covid secure here.

Planning your journey

• Use our interactive Live Travel Map to see the next bus, Metro, train and Shields Ferry times from every stop and station in Tyne and Wear and to plan your journey. Bus times are Real-Time where available - which means it's the time the bus is expected to actually leave your stop.
• If you know the number of the bus you need, click here to find the timetable.
• Metro timetables are here

Tickets and passes

Finding the best ticket for you will depend on what type of transport you use.

• You can get discounts on adult fares when you're a student.
  • If you're only travelling by bus, information about day tickets is here, or season tickets is here.
  • Click here for Metro season tickets.
  • Or if you're travelling by both bus and Metro click here.
• If a season ticket isn't for you, Pop Pay As You Go might be. Find out more here. And if you're still 18, and travelling by Metro, get reduced fares with Pop blue.