Ticket deal between rival bus companies to end
LDRSBus users have slammed the collapse of a ticket agreement between rival companies on a busy route.
Passengers using services on the Coast Road, between Newcastle and North Tyneside, are currently able to travel on any of Arriva's 306 and 308 or Go North East's 307 and 309 buses using tickets purchased from either operator.
But the sharing deal will end later this month after Go North East pulled out of the arrangement.
Go North East said the ticket acceptance deal had been "superseded" by North East mayor Kim McGuinness's region-wide £2.50 cap on the cost of a single bus journey.
Vicki Gilbert, co-chair on the North East Public Transport Users Group, said the move would make journeys "much less convenient for bus passengers, particularly those with season tickets but also people buying day tickets or weekly passes".
"Once again it appears decisions are being made in the commercial interests of the private bus operators, not in the interests of the paying public," she said.
'Dismayed' customers
Liberal Democrat councillor for Newcastle's Manor Park ward Greg Stone said: "People are used to turning up at the stop and getting the first bus that comes along every few minutes.
"They will be dismayed that the convenient arrangement that allowed return tickets and daily and weekly tickets to be used interchangeably on Arriva and Go North East services along this route is being abandoned, as it was a sensible step towards an integrated bus network."
Arriva told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it wanted the agreement to stay in place as it "brought real benefits to customers".
But the offer will end on 22 March.
Integrated bus network
A spokesperson for Go North East said: "This arrangement was introduced following the pandemic and has since been superseded by region-wide initiatives, including the Mayor's Fare £2.50 adult single and £1 fare for young people, as well as multi-operator day tickets supported by the North East Combined Authority."
They said in the past year less than 2% of its customers used Arriva tickets on their services so "are confident the impact will therefore be limited", but added the bus company would listen to customer feedback.
McGuinness previously said she was keen to enact significant reforms that would bring the bus network under public control across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham, instead of ticket prices and routes being determined by private companies.
However, that system could still be several years away from coming into force.
The North East Combined Authority said it expected to publish options for an integrated bus network "very shortly".
A spokesperson added: "The fact that complicated and fragile legal agreements are needed for rival companies to work together on timetables and ticketing shows why it matters that we are looking at potential reforms to the way the bus market works."
