Coast Road bus deal dismay

Bus users have slammed the collapse of a ticket agreement between rival companies on one of Tyneside’s busiest routes, writes Local Democracy Reporter, Daniel Holland.

Passengers using services on the Coast Road between Newcastle and North Tyneside are currently able to travel on any of Arriva’s 306 and 308 or Go North East’s 307 and 309 buses using tickets purchased from either operator.

But that sharing deal will end later this month, after Go North East pulled out of the arrangement.

Vicki Gilbert, co-chair of North East Public Transport Users Group, said the move would make journeys “much less convenient for bus passengers, particularly those with season tickets but also people buying day tickets or weekly passes”.

She added: “Once again it appears decisions are being made in the commercial interests of the private bus operators, not in the interests of the paying public.”

Local councillor Greg Stone, a Liberal Democrat in Newcastle’s Manor Park ward, said: “I know from personal daily experience that the Coast Road services are a convenient and frequent link to the city centre for thousands of people living along this busy corridor, including many of my constituents. People are used to turning up at the stop and getting the first bus that comes along every few minutes. They will be dismayed that the convenient arrangement that allowed return tickets and daily and weekly tickets to be used interchangeably on Arriva and Go North East services along this route is being abandoned, as it was a sensible step towards an integrated bus network.

“I realise bus companies have to make business decisions, but this seems to be a decision taken in the commercial interests of the bus operators rather than the convenience of passengers.”

Arriva told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it wanted the agreement with Go North East to stay in place as it “brought real benefits to customers”.

But the offer will be ending from Sunday, March 22. 

Go North East said that the ticket acceptance deal had been “superseded” by North East mayor Kim McGuinness’ region-wide £2.50 cap on the cost of a single bus journey.

The mayor is also keen to enact significant reforms that would bring the bus network under public control across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham, instead of ticket prices and routes being determined by private companies. However, that system could still be several years away from coming into force.

A Go North East spokesperson said: “We will introduce revised timetables on services 307 and 309 from 22 March 2026, designed to improve reliability and punctuality in response to increasing congestion on the Coast Road and into Newcastle city centre. Details will be published on our website in the coming days. The services continue to operate up to every 10 minutes.

“At the same time, we will conclude our separate ticket acceptance agreement with Arriva on this corridor. This arrangement was introduced following the pandemic and has since been superseded by region-wide initiatives, including the Mayor’s Fare £2.50 adult single and £1 fare for young people, as well as multi-operator day tickets supported by the North East Combined Authority.

“In the past year, less than 2% of our customers used Arriva tickets on these services. We are confident the impact will therefore be limited, but we will continue to monitor feedback carefully. We remain committed to working with partners across the region to improve bus services and deliver a reliable and affordable network for customers.”

The North East Combined Authority said it expected to publish options for an integrated bus network “very shortly”.

A spokesperson added: “The fact that complicated and fragile legal agreements are needed for rival companies to work together on timetables and ticketing shows why it matters that we are looking at potential reforms to the way the bus market works.”