Bus route linking Wooler to Kelso, Morpeth, and Newcastle to be taken over by Arriva

Arriva has secured a contract with Northumberland County Council to replace the 710 service, currently operated by Glen Valley Tours, which links Kelso, Wooler, Morpeth, and Newcastle.

Starting from Sunday, September 1 the Arriva X16 service, currently operating between Morpeth and Newcastle, will be extended north instead.

Arriva will offer a Monday to Friday peak time journey from Wooler to Morpeth and Newcastle with timings designed to line up with local schools and colleges.

On Saturdays the current Kelso to Wooler and Newcastle link will be maintained and an additional midday journey will operate between Wooler and Newcastle.

Adjustments will also be made to bus services serving Stannington.

Currently some journeys on the 44 route, a service between Newcastle and Dinnington, are extended to and from Stannington, but these will be scrapped.

Instead, X16 services will now stop in Stannington on an hourly basis.

Southbound X16 journeys will divert off the A1 to serve the stop on the slip road, approximately 10 minutes after leaving Morpeth. Northbound journeys will call at the main stop in the village itself roughly 10 minutes after leaving Regent Centre.

This change will also come into effect from Sunday, September 1.

Arriva has also made an adjustment to its 777 service.

The route, from Morpeth to Kingston Park via Newcastle Airport, will have adjusted timings with some buses running slightly later after a “review of punctuality on this service,” but general frequency of the route remains unchanged.