Extra buses for Alnwick, Seahouses, Belford and Berwick among Northumberland transport changes

Introduced in partnership with Northumberland County Council, the changes, which come into effect on Sunday, April 5 2020, will also increase the number of buses between Alnwick, Seahouses, Belford and Berwick.

There will also be earlier Sunday morning buses between Newcastle, Corbridge and Hexham and new links at peak times from East Hartford, Nelson Village and Beacon Hill to Cramlington and the Northumbria hospital.

The bus company has also said that a selection of other services in the region will undergo minor route and timetable changes to improve punctuality, better match capacity with demand and respond to customers’ requests.

This includes the Monday to Friday journey on the X20 at 7.23am, from Newcastle to Alnwick, which will run via the standard route between Hadston and Amble, which means it will not serve Broomhill.

Arriva says that its ticket data show that very few people use this bus to travel to/from Broomhill and it has received requests for the service to serve the new housing estate off Hadston Road.

The summer timetable for the X18 route from Newcastle to Berwick via Alnwick and Morpeth is also being extended to operate until Saturday, October 31, this year.

Area managing director for Arriva North East, Nick Knox, said: “We are constantly assessing our network to see what is working for local bus users and where we could make improvements.

“Based on recent customer feedback, we have made some changes to our services in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear to improve punctuality across our network, and to ensure that our customers can travel to the areas they most need to get to, at the times they need to travel.

“Working with Northumberland County Council, we will also be introducing a number of new links where passenger feedback has indicated they would be welcomed.”

Full details of the upcoming changes can be found on the Arriva website at https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/north-east/updates/service-changes-in-northumberland-and-tyne–wear–from-sunday-5th-april-2020/