Better bus fares launched across County Durham and beyond to encourage more people to use clean and safe buses as the region recovers

Go North East has launched a new blanket fare offer for those travelling around County Durham with a headline maximum single fare of just £2 for any journey, and other offers across the region, as part of its summer savings fares campaign.

It also hopes to extend them longer term if the take up is good enough and more people get on board the region’s buses.

The offers follow the success of Go North East’s £1 evening fare offer to help people’s money go further and get more people back on board buses, in an effort to boost the region’s local economy, help reduce congestion and improve air quality.

The ticket offers are designed to offer a range of very simple headline fares with easy-to-understand fare zones that match borough and county boundaries. In County Durham this sees one local fare zone to cover the whole of the county.

Single, return, day and weekly tickets in each zone have been simplified, with reduced prices elsewhere across the Go North East network too, including an improved All Zones ‘go anywhere’ ticket offer.

County Durham summer saving fares

The new County Durham zone covers places such as Bishop Auckland, Chester-le-Street, Consett, Durham city centre, Framwellgate Moor, Lanchester, Langley Park, Murton, Peterlee, Sacriston, Seaham, Spennymoor, Stanley and more.

• £2 maximum single fare – you’ll never pay more than £2 for a single journey when travelling within the new County Durham zone, and single fares start from just £1.20 for short journeys.
• £3.80 maximum return fare – you’ll never pay more than £3.80 for a return journey when travelling within the new County Durham zone, and return fares start from just £2.10 for short journeys.
• £5 day ticket – make unlimited journeys in the new County Durham zone for just £5 a day. Available to buy on the bus or on the Go North East app.
• £20 weekly ticket – make unlimited journeys across the week within the new County Durham zone for just £20 a week. Available to buy on the bus or in advance on the Go North East app.

Similar local offers are being launched in Sunderland and Gateshead, and fares across all of Go North East's main fare zones, from Bishop Auckland in the south to Blyth in the north, are being capped at a maximum of £3.50 for a single and £6 return/all day unlimited journeys.

If you are travelling after 7pm, you can also travel for just £1 per journey with Go North East’s great value evening fare.

Stephen King, commercial director at Go North East, said: "We’ve put a lot of effort into improving the local transport offer with newer and greener buses over recent months, and a new website and smartphone app with live bus tracking and more.

“These fare offers are the latest part of our efforts to get more people on board public transport and help support the recovery of our towns, cities and regional economy with affordable public transport that also helps reduce congestion and improve air quality.

“Our bus network is clean and safe to use, with hospital grade cleaning products used on board and no evidence of any increased risk of infection following comprehensive swab testing. As the country returns to normal, we cannot afford a car, congestion and polluting led recovery – we must get more people back on board public transport.

“We hope these summer saving fare offers, which can be bought on board the bus with a contactless bankcard or cash, as well as on our smartphone app, will encourage more people to give the bus a go and that customer take up enables us to keep them in place for longer.”

Cllr Hopgood, leader of Durham County Council, added: “Buses are of huge importance to the people who live and work in County Durham, and the region as a whole. It’s great to see Go North East introduce some temporary offers in an effort to aid passenger growth and help get the County and the wider region back on its feet as we recover from the pandemic.”

To find out more about Go North East’s summer saving fares, including offers that are available elsewhere across the region, visit www.gonortheast.co.uk/summer-saving-fares.