Bus passengers have been left outraged over cuts to a popular route along the Newcastle riverside.
Under drastic reductions to public transport services that are due to come into force in the city and neighbouring North Tyneside next month, Walker and Wallsend are being axed from the route of the Q3 QuayCity service.
With the Go North East bus set to turn around at St Peter’s Basin from March 27 instead, it means that residents further east will be losing one of their key links to Newcastle city centre.
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It is feared that privately-owned bus operators could slash routes across the North East by up to 17%, as they make severe cutbacks ahead of Government Covid relief funding being withdrawn in the coming weeks.
Details of reductions or total cancellations on more than 30 routes across Newcastle and North Tyneside, plus some running into south east Northumberland, have been confirmed this week, with more across the rest of the region due later in the spring.
A petition to keep the Q3’s current route intact has already gained around 300 signatures since being set up on Wednesday.
The change.org petition, set up by Daniel Carmichael, states that the cut “makes no sense for an area currently seeing great housing growth” and that both the Q3 and the number 12, which will be locals’ alternative bus route directly into the city centre, are “already packed on a morning”.
Patricia Cole, 70, uses the Q3 to get to the city centre and back from her home in Walker every day and told ChronicleLive that it is relied on by both commuters and the elderly.
She added: “It is a long walk to get to Byker or to St Peter’s Basin for a bus, that’s hard for an older person in the long winter when it is cold and windy down by the riverside.
“We have only had this bus for a few years, there was very little before that. It feels like we are the poor relation down here.
“I have seen a lot of changes in Walker over the years, there is no work for people and nothing for people to do.
“We are classed as a delinquent area, but the people here are decent.”
A spokesperson for Go North East claimed that the section of the Q3 route being axed was “not particularly well used even before the pandemic, so it's simply not viable to continue it longer term especially when there is an alternative number 12 bus running in the same area”.
They said: "The pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the numbers of people using bus services and has also changed the way many people work and shop. It is important that services can adapt to new travel patterns and demand.”
Tyne and Wear Metro operator Nexus has announced a £4.5m rescue package to help save some services from the cuts, including another one in Walker, but cannot afford to cover every route affected.
Customer Services Director at Nexus Huw Lewis said: “In the case of the Q3, Go North East stated it was withdrawing the service between St Peter’s Basin and Wallsend at the same time as Stagecoach said it was withdrawing Route 18 entirely.
“Those two decisions by commercial bus companies would have left parts of Walker with no bus service at all.
“With the funding Nexus has available we have been able to save the number 18 service, which provides essential links to shops, council amenities, Byker, the Freeman Hospital and business parks in the north of the city.
“We will continue to press Go North East and explore ways of bringing back the Q3 service in the future.”
