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The new Angel 21 bus next to the iconic Angel of the North - which is 20 this year.
The new Angel 21 bus next to the iconic Angel of the North - which is 20 this year.

News -

£4.5million boost for popular Angel bus service

As the Angel of the North gets set to celebrate 20 years on Tyneside this February, Go North East has spent £4.5million on 19 bigger and greener double-deck buses for its namesake Newcastle to Chester-le-Street service.

To help cope with increased demand on the popular Angel 21 service, which will feature ‘Angel 20’ badges to celebrate the momentous milestone, the award-winning bus operator has purchased larger double-deck buses to service the route, accommodating 16 extra passengers per hour - including four more accessible lower-deck seats.

For comfort and convenience, the buses now offer upper-deck tables featuring casino and board game designs, larger LED next-stop announcement displays, USB connections and free Wifi– additions made by Go North East following customer feedback. And, contactless payments can be taken on board the brightly-coloured vehicles, which are easily identifiable thanks to their iconic Angel of the North emblazoned livery.

Following an investment of over £10million in new vehicles and upgrades in 2017, the significant cash injection has put 19 brand new vehicles on the road, featuring the latest, most environmentally-friendly Euro 6 stop/start engines. Fitted with a third-generation micro-hybrid system, they also save 21% fuel and carbon dioxide.

Go North East managing director Kevin Carr said: “2017 was a huge year of investment for us and we are delighted to continue this into 2018. This significant boost to our popular Angel services comes at a key time as we look to support Gateshead Council with its year-long celebrations to commemorate the Angel of the North’s 20th birthday, while also supporting our aim of having the greenest bus fleet in the country.”

In an effort to ensure the millions of passengers using Go North East services each year continually benefit from an undisrupted, high-quality service, the investment includes a further two dedicated spare double-deck buses built to the same specification as the new Angel vehicles.

With no timetable changes, Angel customers can jump aboard the new buses every seven to eight minutes between Newcastle and Chester-le-Street, with services continuing to Durham every 15 minutes.  

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On the Go since 1913

Around 175,000 journeys are made on Go North East bus services every day to travel around this wonderful region. Travelling to work or education, to visit friends and family, to have a night out, or to visit one of the region's many tourist and leisure attractions.

For over 100 years, Go North East has connected the region's towns and villages with the cities of Newcastle, Durham and Sunderland and currently operates across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham and into Tees Valley.

Employing over 2,000 local people, with a fleet of almost 700 buses and coaches and an annual turnover of £100m, the company is the regional subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group plc, one of the UK's leading providers of passenger transport.

Go North East

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NE8 2UA Gateshead