Stagecoach in Newcastle

Stagecoach in Newcastle

An Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC, branded in the company's former corporate livery.
Parent	Stagecoach Group (Stagecoach Group plc)
Founded	1986; 35 years ago (1986)
Headquarters	Sunderland, Tyne and Wear England
Service area	Tyne and Wear Northumberland
Service type	Bus and coach
Depots	2
Managing Director	Steve Walker
Website	www.stagecoachbus.com/about/north-east

Stagecoach in Newcastle is a bus company, and a division of Stagecoach North East.^[1] Stagecoach in Newcastle is the largest division of Stagecoach North East, and one of the three major bus operators in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, alongside Arriva North East and Go North East. Stagecoach predominantly provide services within the city proper, with Arriva North East and Go North East's routes extending beyond the city into other parts of Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham.

Fleet and operations[]

Stagecoach Newcastle operate a fleet mainly consisting of vehicles manufactured by Alexander Dennis, with most recent deliveries consisting of Enviro 200 MMC single-deck and Enviro 400 MMC double-deck vehicles. Some older vehicles in the fleet were manufactured by MAN.

Most vehicles are branded in the former corporate livery, which was originally launched in 2000. It consists of a white livery, with a blue skirt, and red and orange swoops. The new Stagecoach livery was launched in January 2020, and features three different liveries, based on the type of service operated, these being local, long-distance and specialist.

Stagecoach in Newcastle operate services from two depots:

• Slatyford: Slatyford Lane, Slatyford, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Walkergate: Shields Road, Walkergate, Newcastle upon Tyne

Services[]

Stagecoach in Newcastle provides local services in and around Newcastle upon Tyne, with buses operating from two depots – Slatyford and Walkergate.

As of June 2020, the following routes are operated by Stagecoach in Newcastle:^[2]

Route	From	To	Via
1	Slatyford Pooley Road	Cobalt Business Park Silver Fox Way	Scotswood, Elswick, Central Station , City Centre Pilgrim Street , Shieldfield, Heaton, Coach Lane Campus
6	Metrocentre Interchange	Four Lane Ends Interchange	Lemington, West Denton, Westerhope, Kingston Park , Gosforth, Freeman Hospital
7	Metrocentre Interchange	Four Lane Ends Interchange	Lemington, West Denton, Westerhope, Kenton, Gosforth, Freeman Hospital
8	Newcastle Central Station	Four Lane Ends Interchange	Newcastle Business Park, Lemington, West Denton, Westerhope, Kenton, Gosforth, Freeman Hospital
10	North Kenton Delamere Road	West Denton Park	Kenton Park, Royal Victoria Infirmary, City Centre Pilgrim Street , Central Station , General Hospital, Denton Burn
11	North Kenton Delamere Road	West Denton Shops	Kenton Park, Royal Victoria Infirmary, City Centre Pilgrim Street , Central Station , General Hospital, Denton Burn
12	Wallsend Interchange	Fenham Two Ball Lonnen	Walker, St. Anthony's, Byker , Manors , City Centre Blackett Street , St. James' , Nuns Moor
18	Walker Church Walk	Benton Halisham Avenue	St. Peter's, Byker , Heaton, Freeman Hospital, Four Lane Ends Interchange
22	Throckley Newburn Road	Cobalt Business Park Silver Fox Way	Newburn, Lemington, Newcastle Business Park, Central Station , City Centre Market Street , Manors , Byker , Fossway, Wallsend, Silverlink, Cobalt Business Park
22X	Throckley Newburn Road	Cobalt Business Park Silver Fox Way	Express stops between Throckley and Cobalt
30	Fenham Silver Lonnen	Fawdon Fawdon Park Road	Benwell, Elswick, Central Station , City Centre Pilgrim Street , Town Moor, Gosforth, Fawdon
31	Denton Burn Whickham View	Montagu Estate	Benwell, Elswick, Central Station , City Centre Pilgrim Street , Town Moor, Gosforth
32	Walker Church Walk	North Kenton Hillsview Avenue	Byker, Jesmond Vale, City Centre Market Street , Royal Victoria Infirmary, General Hospital, Benwell, Cowgate, Blakelaw
32A	Walker Church Walk	North Kenton Hillsview Avenue	Byker, Jesmond Vale, City Centre Market Street , Royal Victoria Infirmary, General Hospital, Benwell, Cowgate, Blakelaw
35	Newcastle City Centre Pilgrim Street	Red House Farm	Town Moor, Gosforth, Coxlodge, Fawdon
36	Newcastle City Centre New Bridge Street	Fenham Netherby Drive	University, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Spital Tongues, BBC Television Centre
38	Denton Burn Whickham View	Four Lane Ends Interchange	Benwell Village, General Hospital, Central Station , City Centre Pilgrim Street , Sandyford, Cradlewell, High Heaton, Freeman Hospital
38A	Chapel House	Freeman Hospital	one early morning service via Denton Burn, West Road, Central Station
39	Walker Bus Terminal	Dumpling Hall The Vallum	Welbeck Road, Byker , Manors , City Centre Blackett Street , St. James' , Arthur's Hill, General Hospital, Denton Burn
40	Wallsend Interchange	Chapel House	Welbeck Road, Byker , Manors , City Centre Blackett Street , St. James' , Arthur's Hill, General Hospital, Denton Burn
62	Killingworth Bus Station	North Walbottle	West Moor, Quorum Business Park, Longbenton, Four Lane Ends Interchange , Chillingham Road , Byker , Manors , City Centre Blackett Street , St. James' , Cowgate, West Denton, Chapel Park
63	Killingworth Bus Station	Chapel House	Forest Hall, Benton, Four Lane Ends Interchange , Chillingham Road , Byker , Manors , City Centre Blackett Street , St. James' , Fenham, West Denton
68	Four Lane Ends Interchange	Tyneview Park	Front Street
71	Throckley Newburn Road	Newcastle City Centre Grainger Street	Newburn, North Walbottle, Chapel Park, Westerhope, Cowgate, Central Station
72	Chapel House	Newcastle City Centre Grainger Street	Westerhope, Fenham, Central Station
87	Newbiggin Hall Trevelyan Drive	Newcastle City Centre Grainger Street	Westerhope, Fenham, Central Station
100	Newcastle City Centre Blackett Street	Metrocentre Interchange	Central Station then non-stop to Metrocentre
991	Walbottle Hexham Road	Tyneview Park	irregular all stops
995	Byker Brinkburn Street	Tyneview Park	irregular all stops
X47	Newcastle Eldon Square bus station	Kingston Park Brunton Lane	express via Ponteland Road
X63	Newcastle City Centre Blackett Street	Killingworth West Bailey	express to Four Lane Ends Interchange then most stops to Killingworth
X77	Newcastle Eldon Square bus station	Darras Hall Middle Drive	express via Ponteland Road and Newcastle Airport
X78	Newcastle Eldon Square bus station	Darras Hall Middle Drive	express via Ponteland Road and Newcastle Airport
X79	Newcastle Eldon Square bus station	Kirkley Hall	express via Ponteland Road and Newcastle Airport
X82	Newcastle Eldon Square bus station	Throckley Leazes Parkway	express via West Road
X87	Newcastle Eldon Square bus station	Newbiggin Hall Trevelyan Drive	express via Ponteland Road
X88	Newcastle Eldon Square bus station	Newbiggin Hall Trevelyan Drive	express via Ponteland Road

Other services[]

Other Stagecoach services operating in the city belong to different subsidiaries including the X24 express service between Newcastle and Sunderland and X34 between Newcastle and Horsely Hill which are part of the Stagecoach in Sunderland brand; and the 685 Cross-Pennine route between Carlisle and Newcastle which is operated by Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire.

Vehicle orders and deliveries[]

In 2007, the first batch of Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 double-deckers were delivered to Newcastle – these being part of a £55 million group-wide order.^[3] The vehicles operate predominantly on the city's high-frequency routes: 1, 12, 22, 38, 39/40, 62/63 and X87/X88.

A further delivery in July 2011 saw Walkergate depot take delivery of twenty-six Alexander Dennis Enviro 400H double-deckers, as part of the government's green bus scheme.^[4] These buses initially served on routes 39 and 40 from their introduction, until turn of the new decade, when they were replaced by new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC double-deckers. The Enviro 400H now operate on other high-frequency routes in particular services 12 and 22.

In 2016, twenty-four Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 MMC double-decker buses were delivered for services 62 and 63 (operated by both Slatyford and Walkergate depots), with this delivery allowing for some of the Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 from the original 2007 order to leave the region. A further 23 were delivered for services 39 and 40 in January 2020 which include additional audio-visual next stop announcements with scrolling LED displays, free Wi-Fi and USB charging points.^[5]

Eighteen Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 MMC single-decker buses were also delivered in 2016, these being for routes 30, 31 and 36 (operated by Slatyford depot).

Night buses[]

In September 2018, Stagecoach in Newcastle introduced weekend night buses on the following routes: N1, N30, N39, N40 and N88.^[6] These services were withdrawn in July 2019, owing to low usage.

The Seasider open-top service[]

In 2019, the company launched The Seasider open-top service, which takes in the sights of the North East's coast. The route serves North Shields, Cullercoats, Tynemouth and Whitley Bay.^[7] The launch of the coastal service coincided with the end of the company's City Sightseeing franchising agreement, with the open top double-deckers being deployed onto this new route, in order to engage with a new customer base in North Tyneside.^[8]

Incidents[]

2011[]

On Monday 28 March 2011, Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 (19151), NK07 HBL suffered severe fire damage after its engine burst into flames in the Killingworth area of Newcastle upon Tyne.^[9]

2008[]

On 31 December 2008, Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 (19380), NK58 AEU was de-roofed after it hit a Metro bridge

54°59′19″N 1°32′22″W / 54.9885°N 1.5395°W / 54.9885; -1.5395 at The Avenue (around 400m west of Wallsend Metro Station). The accident happened after the driver had apparently took a wrong turn, leading to minor injuries and brief Metro speed restriction.^[10] The vehicle returned to service six months later in June 2009.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• TravelNorthEast.co.uk (North East Public Transport Information)