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Go North East
ParentGo-Ahead Group
FoundedFebruary 1987; 37 years ago (1987-02)
HeadquartersGateshead, Tyne and Wear
England
Service area
Service typeBus and coach
Depots7
Fleet648 (at 19 December 2021)
Managing DirectorNigel Featham
Websitewww.gonortheast.co.uk

Go North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It was previously known as the Northern General Transport Company and Go-Ahead Northern. The company was the foundation of today's Go-Ahead Group, which now operates bus and rail services across the United Kingdom, as well as Germany, Ireland, Norway and Singapore.

History

In February 1987, as part of the privatisation of the National Bus Company, a management buyout led by Chris Moyes and Martin Ballinger saw the purchase of the Northern General Transport Company.

At deregulation in October 1986, Northern, which was rebranded as Go Ahead Northern, operated from fourteen depots at Gateshead (Sunderland Road) Winlaton, High Spen, Wallsend, Percy Main, South Shields, Jarrow, Consett, Stanley, Washington, Chester le Street, Sunderland (Park Lane), Philadelphia and Murton, with the head office and central works and Bensham in Gateshead.

[1] Early expansion saw the acquisition of a number of smaller competing bus operators in the region, including Langley Park-based Gypsy Queen in January 1990[2] and Bishop Auckland-based OK Motor Services in March 1995.[3][4] In January 2012, the OK Motor Services branding was briefly revived, to celebrate the company's centenary year.

In February 1990, the company's depot at Murton was closed, with the loss of 20 jobs. The remaining 109 staff were redeployed to other depots, the majority going to Sunderland (Park Lane) and the remainder to Philadelphia.[5] The loss-making depot at Jarrow, and the depot at High Spen, which was making a marginal profit, was closed towards the end of September 1990. Following the closures, a total of 20 jobs were lost, with a further 150 staff redeployed.[6][7][8]

677 Go-Ahead Gateshead Leyland Olympian Alexander
3521 Northern Leyland Olympian with Superliner branding
VFM Buses Dennis Dart Plaxton in Newcastle upon Tyne
Wear Buses Leyland Olympian ECW with Wear Express branding in Newcastle upon Tyne

By January 1991, Go-Ahead Northern had split into five companies within the parent company: Coastline, Go-Ahead Gateshead, Northern, VFM and Wear Buses.[9]

In August 1998, a new depot was opened at Deptford Terrace in Sunderland, which saw the closure of the nearby depot at Park Lane, as well as Philadelphia Lane in Houghton-le-Spring, with a subsequent transfer of operations, which allowed the demolition of the depot and adjacent bus station in Park Lane, Sunderland, to be redeveloped into the current interchange and subsequent arrival of the Metro extension to Sunderland and South Hylton. The depot at Philadelphia remained standing and was used for a variety of uses, including a car wash, tyre sales and cafe, but was finally demolished in 2022 for redevelopment of the area.

In 2005, the company's depot in the seaside town of South Shields was closed, with operations moved to Deptford depot.

In March 2006, the company's depot in Bishop Auckland was transferred to Arriva North East.[10] Four years later, in March 2010, Go North East's Ashington depot was exchanged with Arriva North East's Hexham depot.[11]

In June 2010, the company was awarded a five-year contract to operate the QuayLink network of services. Award of the contract saw the introduction of a fleet of nine Euro 5 diesel-powered Optare Versa single-deck vehicles.[12][13]

In February 2014, former depots at Sunderland Road, Gateshead and Winlaton were replaced by an £8.5 million "super depot", known as Riverside. The 5.75-acre (23,300 m2) site, located in Dunston has capacity for over 160 vehicles and 500 staff.[14][15][16]

In June 2018, Hull-based East Yorkshire Motor Services was acquired by Go-Ahead, bringing an end to 30 years of family ownership. Following acquisition, the company was rebranded East Yorkshire, and will continue to run as a standalone company within Go North East.[17][18][19][20]

In March 2019, the Stanley depot was closed, after almost 100 years in service. Operations were subsequently moved to a new 2.23-acre (9,000 m2) depot at Hownsgill Industrial Estate, Consett, which is located on the site of the former Consett Steelworks. The £3.5 million depot has the capacity for 63 vehicles and 180 staff.[21][22][23]

In November 2020, a fleet of nine zero-emission Yutong E10 fully-electric single-deck buses were introduced on routes 53 and 54, as part of a jointly-funded project between Go North East and the Government's Ultra-Low Emission Bus Fund – at a cost of £3.7 million.[24][25][26][27] The circular routes serve Gateshead, Quayside, Newcastle and Saltwell Park up to every 12 minutes,[a] with vehicles branded in a green and silver livery.

In February 2022, a further zero-emission vehicle trial took place, when a zero-emission Wright StreetDeck Electroliner fully-electric double-deck bus was evaluated on route 21. The route runs up to every 7–10 minutes between Brandon, Durham, Chester-le-Street and Newcastle.[28][29][b]

In March 2022, the company's Peterlee outstation was closed, with operations transferred to neighbouring Chester-le-Street and Deptford depots.[30]

In June 2022, it was announced that East Yorkshire would be split from Go North East, becoming a separate company of the Go-Ahead Group. Following the departure of Martijn Gilbert in August 2022, the former Go North West Managing Director, Nigel Featham, assumed Gilbert's role at Go North East. At East Yorkshire, former Area Manager, Ben Gilligan, has been promoted to Managing Director.[31] In the same month, plans were also announced to close the company's Chester-le-Street depot.[32]

In late 2023, the company's operations suffered serious disruption due to strike action by employees. Organised by Unite the Union, the first strikes each occurred for one week, beginning 30 September and 14 October. Following this, the union members began an indefinite strike on 28 October. This led to almost no services being run, before a limited 'skeleton service' was introduced on certain routes from 14 November. The strike was brought to an end on 1 December when union members voted in favour of an improved pay offer, with normal service resuming the following day.[33][34]

Fleet and operations

Depots

As of September 2022, the company operates from seven bus depots across the region: Consett (Hownsgill), Gateshead (Riverside & Saltmeadows Road), Hexham, Percy Main, Sunderland (Deptford) and Washington.

Vehicles

As of 28 May 2023, the fleet consists of 599 buses and coaches.[35] The fleet consists mainly of diesel-powered single and double-deck buses manufactured by Alexander Dennis, Mercedes-Benz, Optare, Scania, Volvo and Wrightbus. The company also operate a fleet of eighteen fully-electric single-deck vehicles: nine Yutong E10, which were introduced in November 2020, as well as a further nine Yutong E12, introduced in September 2022. [24][25][26][27]

Branding

Route branding: past and present

In 2006, Go North East introduced route branding. The practice aimed to give each service, or group of services, a recognisable identity, colour scheme and logo. Route branding has led to the company adopting a multi-coloured fleet.

Until 2013, the standard fleet livery consisted of red, blue and yellow. Following this, vehicles without route branding were painted in a red livery. In 2016, a new standard livery was introduced, with vehicles painted red at the front, and blue at the back, separated by a white strip, with a tagline and website featuring above the windows.[c] This proved to be short-lived, and in 2019, a new-style standard livery has been introduced. This features a lighter shade of blue at the rear, with the curved white separation strip being replaced with a double white and yellow line.

Regional and national coach services operating under contract to National Express are painted in a mostly white livery, featuring the client's blue and red logo.[36] In early 2020, a fleet of coaches were repainted into a range of retro-inspired heritage liveries,[37] with a number of single and double-deck buses following later.[38][39]

Notes

  1. ^ Buses run every 40 minutes in the evening and on Sunday.
  2. ^ Buses run up to every 7–10 minutes between Newcastle and Chester-le-Street via Birtley, with extensions to Brandon and Durham running less frequently.
  3. ^ On double-deck buses, the tagline and website was positioned below the lower deck windows.

References

  1. ^ "NBC sale at halfway stage". Commercial Motor. 16 May 1987. p. 21.
  2. ^ "Gypsy taken over". Commercial Motor. 11 January 1990. p. 29.
  3. ^ Holding, David (2007). A History of OK Motor Services. Newbridge, Midlothian: Bus Enthusiast Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-946265-39-8. OCLC 912905469.
  4. ^ Monopolies and Mergers Commission (1996). The Go-Ahead Group plc and OK Motor Services Limited: a report on the merger situation. Department of Trade and Industry. London: H.M.S.O. ISBN 0-10-131502-3. OCLC 34627271.
  5. ^ "Go-Ahead to rationalise". Commercial Motor. 16 November 1989.
  6. ^ "Sparring partners?". Commercial Motor. 15 November 1990. p. 44.
  7. ^ "TGWU warns of depot tender trap". Commercial Motor. 20 September 1990. p. 20.
  8. ^ "…Go-Ahead jobs go". Commercial Motor. 13 September 1990. p. 18.
  9. ^ "Staff get ahead to head Go-Ahead five". Commercial Motor. 8 November 1990. p. 20.
  10. ^ "Transport improves for Valley residents". The Northern Echo. 9 June 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  11. ^ "Anticipated acquisition by Go North East Limited of the bus operations of Arriva Northumbria Limited in Hexham, Northumberland" (PDF). Office of Fair Trading. Competition and Markets Authority. 26 May 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  12. ^ "New diesel QuayLink buses still eco-friendly". Evening Chronicle. 10 August 2010. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Brand new QuayLink fleet takes to the road". Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive. 9 August 2010. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Gateshead Riverside - Go-Ahead North East's new £8.5m depot open". Bus & Coach Buyer. 7 February 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Go North East opens new 'super depot'". Coach & Bus Week. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  16. ^ "New super depot tops off £30m investment at Go North East". Intelligent Transport. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Go-Ahead Welcomes East Yorkshire Motor Services into Go North East". Go North East. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  18. ^ Ford, Coreena (18 June 2018). "Newcastle transport giant Go North East snaps up East Yorkshire bus company". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  19. ^ Campbell, James (18 June 2018). "Hull bus company EYMS has been sold". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  20. ^ Forster, Andrew (22 June 2018). "Shipp sells EYMS to Go-Ahead as operator falls into the red". TransportXtra. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Go North East unveils new £3.5m Consett base". Go North East. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  22. ^ Havery, Gavin (19 March 2019). "Bus depot opens on former steelworks site". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  23. ^ Dunn, Madaline (19 March 2019). "Go North East unveils new £3.5m Consett base". Coach & Bus Week. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  24. ^ a b "Go North East launches game-changing electric buses in Newcastle and Gateshead". Go North East. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  25. ^ a b "Voltra: Go North East launches zero-emission fleet with Yutong". Routeone. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  26. ^ a b "The region's first electric buses are launched in Newcastle and Gateshead". Tyne and Wear PTE. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  27. ^ a b "New bus fleet will "reduce Gateshead's reliance" on fossil fuels". Gateshead Council. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  28. ^ "Go North East trials electric double-decker bus on popular Angel 21 route". Go North East. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  29. ^ Jackson, Peter (8 March 2022). "Go North East trials electric double-decker". Coach & Bus Week. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  30. ^ Scott, Jim (28 March 2022). "Bus company makes 'difficult' decision and permanently shuts County Durham depot". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  31. ^ "Martijn Gilbert to leave The Go-Ahead Group". Routeone. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  32. ^ Scott, Jim (8 June 2022). "Go North East to close major depot in County Durham affecting hundreds of staff". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
  33. ^ "Update on Industrial Action" (Press release). Go North East. 23 November 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  34. ^ Holland, Daniel (1 December 2023). "Go North East bus strike to end as workers vote to accept new pay offer after weeks of travel chaos". Chronicle Live. Newcastle upon Tyne. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  35. ^ "Weekly Disposition - 28 May 2023" (PDF). Go North East. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  36. ^ "New Identity for National Express Group". National Express. 15 November 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  37. ^ Dougall, Emily (18 February 2020). "Go North East brings back retro brands for coach unit". Coach & Bus Week. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  38. ^ "Go North East unveils multi-coloured bus to celebrate the work of its team in bringing communities together". Go North East. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  39. ^ "Go North East celebrates heritage with Tynemouth repaint". Routeone. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
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