Go North East

Go North East

A Wright StreetLite in the 2019 variation of the company's corporate livery.
Parent	Go-Ahead Group
Founded	February 1987; 35 years ago (1987-02)
Headquarters	Gateshead, Tyne and Wear England
Service area	County Durham Cumbria East Riding of Yorkshire Northumberland North Yorkshire Tyne and Wear
Service type	Bus and coach
Depots	8
Fleet	654 (at 28 November 2021)
Managing Director	Martijn Gilbert
Website	www.gonortheast.co.uk

Go North East is the largest of the three main bus operators in the North East of England, the others being Arriva North East and Stagecoach North East. It operates both local and regional services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, as well as the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire.^[1][2] The company was previously known as the Northern General Transport Company and Go-Ahead Northern. It was the foundation of today's Go-Ahead Group.

History[]

An Optare Solo SR in the 2016 variation of the company's corporate livery.

In February 1987, as part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, a management buyout led by Martin Ballinger and Chris Moyes saw the purchase of the Northern General Transport Company.^[3][4] It was the first company of what is now the Go-Ahead Group.^[5]

Early expansion saw the acquisition of certain smaller competing bus operators in North East England, including Gypsy Queen in 1989,^[6] and Low Fell Coaches in June 1992. Go-Ahead Northern also became a National Express contractor, operating services to the Midlands, North East, North West and South West of England.

Until the early 2000s, Go North East operated local services in the Darlington. The company also operated from a depot in Bishop Auckland, which closed in 2006, with the majority of local services (but no vehicles) transferred to Arriva North East.^[7]

In June 2018, East Yorkshire Motor Services was acquired by Go-Ahead, bringing an end to 30 years of family ownership. Now re-branded as East Yorkshire, it will continue to run as a standalone company within Go North East.^[8]

List of Acquired Companies[]

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• The Venture Transport Company
• Stanley Taxis (Local bus services only)
• The Langley Park Motor Company
• Tyne & Wear Omnibus Company Limited (Immediately sold to Busways)
• Carryden Limited (Local bus services only)
• Low Fell Coaches
• Atkinsons
• Shaws Coaches
• JH Hammell (Diamond)
• Jayline
• OK Motor Services
• Derwent Coaches (Local bus services only)
• Armstrongs of Ebchester
• Northumbria Coaches (Local bus services only)
• Redby Bus & Coach Ltd. (Local bus services only)
• Calvary Coaches (Local bus services only)

Fleet and operations[]

A large part of the Go North East fleet is made up of vehicles manufactured by Alexander Dennis, Optare, Volvo and Wrightbus. As of 28nd November 2021, the fleet consists of 654 buses and coaches.^[9]

Operations were previously split between a North and South division. However, all operations are now under one management structure.

The former North division operated services in Gateshead, North Tyneside, West Durham, Northumberland and the Tyne Valley.

The former South division operated services in Sunderland, County Durham and South Tyneside, as well as National Express coach services.

Depots[]

As of November 2021, Go North East operate from eight bus depots:

• Chester-le-Street: Picktree Lane, Chester-le-Street
• Deptford: Deptford Terrace, Sunderland
• Hexham: Tyne Green Lane, Hexham^{[note 1] [10]}
• Hownsgill: Hownsgill Industrial Estate, Consett^{[note 2] [11]}
• Percy Main: Rothbury Terrace, Percy Main
• Peterlee: Cook Way, North West Industrial Estate, Peterlee
• Riverside: Handy Drive, Gateshead^{[note 3] [12]}
• Washington: Industrial Road, Hertburn Industrial Estate, Washington

Livery and branding[]

Go North East introduced route branding in 2006 – a practice which involves giving each service, or group of services, a recognisable identity, colour scheme and logo. Route branding has led to Go North East adopting a multi-coloured fleet. Examples of Go North East's route branding include Angel,^[13] Green Arrow,^[14] QuayLink, Tynedale Links^[15] and X-Lines.^[16]

For many years, Go North East's fleet livery consisted of red, light blue and yellow. Following this, vehicles without route branding were painted in a red base, carrying Northern logos. By the end of 2013, the Northern logos began to be replaced, with the company opting to instead use the Go North East corporate logo.

In 2016, a new corporate livery was introduced, with vehicles painted red at the front, and blue at the back, separated by a white strip, with a tagline and website featuring above the windows (below the lower deck windows on double-deck vehicles).

This proved to be short-lived, and in 2019, a new-style corporate livery has been introduced. This features a lighter shade of blue at the rear, with the curved white separation strip being replaced with a double white and yellow line.

Coaches operating services under contract to National Express are painted in the client's (mostly white) livery, featuring company's blue and red logo.^[17]

A series of Go North East's private hire coaches are currently being repainted in to retro-inspired heritage liveries, as part of the Northern Coaching operation.^[18]

Gallery[]

• 

  A Dennis Mini Pointer Dart, branded in the former red, blue and yellow corporate livery.

• 

  A Scania Omnidekka, branded in the 2016 variation of the company's corporate livery.

• 

  An Optare Versa, branded in the Citylink livery.

• 

  An Optare Versa, branded in the Quaylink livery.

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Go North East.

• Companies House: Go North East
• Companies House: East Yorkshire Motor Services
• Go North East company website