Review of Go North East bus services in East Durham

I have reproduced below an update received from Go North East on changes to their bus services in East Durham, due to take effect from next month:

Over the last few months Go North East have been developing plans to improve the services which operate as part of our East Durham network. There were two main aims of this review:

•          To provide simple, easy to understand services for passengers, as some services currently operate with complicated service patterns
•          To ensure that services are operating where the majority of people wish to travel

Go North East staff travelled on board our East Durham services over a number of days to discuss our plans with passengers and get their views. Overall, 84% of the passengers we spoke to said that our plans would make them travel about the same or more than they do at present, which provides strong support for our proposals. We also listened to the views of those who said they would travel less and made some amendments to our plans. 

The details of the service changes, which are registered to commence from 24^th March 2013, are provided below:

• 65 – the main connections on this service between Seaham, Murton and Durham will be maintained by new service 265. Service 265 also partially replaces some connections on services 202 and 261.
• 201 – unchanged
• 202 – will be diverted via Dawdon to maintain connections to Peterlee currently provided by service 203. Westlea, Northlea and Station Road will be served by new services 238 and 265, with the connections to Sunderland being provided on service 238.
• 203 – the section of route between Seaham and Houghton le Spring will now be served by new service 238, which will extend to Sunderland to maintain connections from the Northlea area of Seaham. The section of route between Seaham, Dawdon and Dalton Park will now be served by service 202. A new service X7 will also be introduced, providing new faster links from Seaham to Sunderland and Peterlee.
• 206 – the route of this service will be unchanged, however due to low passenger numbers the frequency of this service has had to be reduced. This ensures that connections are still available for the unique communities which this bus serves. The new X7 will operate via Wingate, providing new connections for this area. Two journeys (one in each direction) on service X35 will now serve Castle Eden and Hesledon, providing a direct bus to Sunderland.
• 207/208 – this service currently operates once an hour as a clockwise loop and once an hour as an anticlockwise loop, which can be confusing for passengers. The service will be revised to operate a simple, half hourly service between Easington Village and Peterlee via Paradise Estate, Holme Hill, Easington Colliery and Horden, effectively increasing the frequency on this section of the route.
• 209/210 – this service also currently operates once per hour as a clockwise loop and once per hour as an anticlockwise loop. The service will be revised to operate a simple, hourly service providing connections to Horden Hall Estate, Horden, Cotsford Lane, Thorntree Gill, Peterlee, Crawford Avenue, Lowhills Road and York Road.
• 238 – a new service operating between Sunderland and Houghton le Spring via Dene House Road, Seaham, Northlea and Seaton, replacing parts of services 202 and 203.
• 259/262 – this service will be revised to a simple, hourly 259 between Durham and High Pittington via Sherburn Village and Littletown, providing an easier to understand service and higher frequency.
• 260/261 – this service will be revised to a simple, hourly 260 between Durham and Peterlee via Cheveley Park, High Pittington, Easington Lane, South Hetton and Easington Village. This provides a simpler, easier to understand service (as the current service is a mixture of different numbers and routes), and provides a more regular link between Peterlee and Durham
• 265 – this is a new service, which replaces parts of services 65, 202 and 261. The route will operate between Durham and Seaham via High Grange Estate, Low Pittington, Hetton le Hole, Murton, East Moor Estate, Dalton Park, Westlea and Station Road.
• X7 – this is a new express service between Sunderland, Seaham, Peterlee, Wingate, Norton, Stockton and Middlesbrough. This service offers a number of new, fast connections for residents of Durham, as well as speeding up existing links, such as between Seaham and Peterlee.

Any comments on reviewed services should be forwarded to:

Graham Hill, Service Design Manager, Go North East on: 0191 422 9216 or graham.hill@gonortheast.co.uk.