A new bus station for Durham

Tuesday 6th February 2024

Durham’s new bus station opened for business on Sunday 7th January. At a cost of £10.4 million (£6.8 million from the County Council and £3.6 million from the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund approved by the Combined Authority’s Joint Transport Committee for the North East), it offers greatly improved facilities for passengers compared to the now demolished old bus station (photo below) on the same site.

That opened in 1970 and was well past its sell-by date, so it’s good to see the County Council providing a better environment for passengers and bus staff.

I paid a visit ten days ago on Saturday afternoon as dusk was falling to check out the new facilities and came away impressed. But there again anything had to be better than what went before.

The layout is the same arrangement as previously with 11 ‘saw tooth’ drive in/reverse out bays fronting a passenger concourse with an automatic door to each bus stand.

Each stand has six seats which are very smart and comfortable and a decent width for the purpose of a short wait…

… although I noticed two seats at stand A had already lost their cover.

There’s a space for a wheelchair user to wait at the front of the queue which is a nice idea.

There’s also plenty of width in front of the seats at each stand for passengers to stand and queue…

… which is just as well as the area towards the back of the concourse is fairly narrow and not much better than went before in the old bus station…

… although the overall space is not as narrow as others I’ve seen eg Exeter…

…but is narrower than Methyr Tydfil for example …

… in the bus station concourse size stakes.

There’s an electronic departure board above the automatic door on each stand with a route branding logo where appropriate, although it’s difficult to make it out.

Larger screens at either end of the concourse and in the middle of the back wall show the next 16 departures in time order and what stand the bus will be leaving from.

There’s always a debate about whether it’s better to list departures in route number order (as most people know the route number they’re catching) or in time order (meaning you have to your scroll your eyes down to find your departure) but all bus stations seem to favour the latter.

Each stand has a full electronic listing of timetabled departures which don’t photograph close up well due to the image actually moving constantly…

… as does the ‘Where to catch your bus’ poster.

Obviously there are no printed timetables or leaflets to be had anywhere in the new bus station which is a shame as the old one had leaflet racks which Go North East used.

There are toilets with a 20p entry charge but contactless is accepted…

… except when it isn’t.

I can’t imagine the Council gets much revenue once bank charges are deducted.

There are also offices and facilities used by Arriva staff and various cupboards.

At the moment there’s no retail presence but provision has been made for one on the corner and I’d imagine the space will be taken soon as footfall is very good and the old bus station had a thriving snack and drinks outlet.

Passengers can enter from both ends of the concourse with the north western end in North Road having steps and the south eastern end being accessible, which is where the buses exit too.

While I was there on Saturday afternoon two security staff were also wandering around giving passengers either a reassuring presence or a concern as to why two security staff need to be present.

There are a few layover spaces on the far side of the bus area and with 11 stands in regular use it’s a busy area with bus drivers well used to the discipline from the old site of giving way to reversing buses off the stands. No banksmen/women blowing whistles are deployed here.

If I’ve counted correctly, 63 buses an hour use the new bus station – 38 operated by Arriva, 23 by Go North East and 1 each by Stagecoach and Gateshead Central Taxis. Arriva’s local route 64 continues to use a stop in North Road rather than the bus station (as it also did when the old bus station was alive) as do Park and Ride buses and several Gateshead Central Taxis tendered bus routes (40/41/42/52/61/62) which use Ilesbus bodied Ivecos with the front entrance door on the bus sited too far back to use in the bus station.

When I see how much new railway stations cost with very basic facilities this new bus station with offices above the concourse area is excellent value at just over £10 million with a bus a minute either arriving or departing.

It also looks good from passing trains (along with the cathedral and castle of course).

It’s a very welcome improvement.

Roger French

Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS. On Tuesday 13th February at 12:00 don’t miss my free-to-attend online webinar “Secrets of a Successful Bus Operation” thanks to the Foundation for Integrated Transport. Book your place here.

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