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Go North East’s Queen’s Platinum Jubilee bus is pictured alongside the 1977 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Tyne and Wear bus which is currently being restored by the North East Bus Preservation Trust
Go North East’s Queen’s Platinum Jubilee bus is pictured alongside the 1977 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Tyne and Wear bus which is currently being restored by the North East Bus Preservation Trust

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Queen’s Platinum Jubilee bus continues the region’s link with the British Monarch

Go North East, the region’s largest bus operator, has repainted one of its modern, low-emission Euro 6, double-decker buses in a special livery to commemorate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year.

This year, the Queen became the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth.

To celebrate this unprecedented anniversary, a number of events and initiatives will take place throughout the year culminating in a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2 until Sunday 5 June, and Go North East has launched this bus to join the celebrations.

A similar special bus was used to mark the Queen’s Silver Jubilee across Tyne and Wear in 1977 and the actual vehicle used back then is currently under restoration by the North East Bus Preservation Trust.

Her Majesty The Queen has played an important role in the region’s transport network, opening the Tyne & Wear Metro in 1981, opening Park Lane Interchange in Sunderland as part of the Golden Jubilee, and the bus company also serves the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead.

The Queen also visited Newcastle Central Station in 1991 as part of a 12-stop tour to mark the electrification of the East Coast main railway line between London and Edinburgh.

The special Platinum Jubilee bus will operate on routes across the Go North East network in Tyne and Wear and County Durham.

It will also take centre stage at the bus operator’s Gateshead Riverside depot open day on Sunday 15 May which will adopt a Jubilee celebratory theme this year.

The day will additionally help raise funds for the Great North Air Ambulance, which is the depot team’s chosen charity of the year, as well as the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine appeal.

Commenting on the launch of the special bus, Go North East managing director Martijn Gilbert, said: “We’re honoured to be carrying a special Jubilee livery on one of our double-deck buses to mark the occasion of Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year, something that we hope will stand as a celebration of the region’s support and appreciation of the British Monarch and the many things she has done in and around the North East.

“Alongside plaques in the Metro and features in Eldon Square shopping centre marking the Queen’s visit to the region in her Silver Jubilee year in 1977, we now have a commemorate bus as a fitting travelling tribute.”

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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

117 Queen Street
NE8 2UA Gateshead