Cuts to more than 30 bus routes in Newcastle and North Tyneside are coming into force this weekend.
The huge list of service cancellations, timetable changes, and route diversions was revealed last month, as public transport services across the nation faced up to a funding crisis with ridership numbers still well below pre-Covid rates. While the Government has since announced some new funding to help cover bus companies’ losses for another six months and the North East’s main operators have paused expected cuts in the rest of the region, that relief came too late to reverse the major changes that will hit Newcastle and North Tyneside passengers from Sunday, March 27.
The upheaval, which also affects some routes that run into south east Northumberland, has been described as the biggest shift to local bus services in more than three decades. Included among the plans is the removal of Walker and Wallsend from the route of the popular Q3 Quaylink bus, which prompted more than 1,000 people to sign a petition calling for it to be saved.
