Go North East Open New Bus Depot in Consett

An effective, but costly improvement to public transportation.

Martijn Gilbert (MD at Go North East), Cllr Simon Henig (Leader of Durham County Council) and David Brown (Group Chief Executive of Go-Ahead Group) Image Courtesy of http://newsroom.gonortheast.co.uk/images/martijn-gilbert-md-at-go-north-east-cllr-simon-henig-leader-of-durham-county-council-and-david-brown-group-chief-executive-of-go-ahead-group-1601796 (Creative Commons Attribution)
Martijn Gilbert (MD at Go North East), Cllr Simon Henig (Leader of Durham County Council) and David Brown (Group Chief Executive of Go-Ahead Group) Image Courtesy of http://newsroom.gonortheast.co.uk/images/martijn-gilbert-md-at-go-north-east-cllr-simon-henig-leader-of-durham-county-council-and-david-brown-group-chief-executive-of-go-ahead-group-1601796 (Creative Commons Attribution)

Consett is now the home of a new bus depot, for Go North East, after being located in Stanley for almost 100 years. The new facility is top of the range and state of the art.

It opened in February 2019, and cost £3.5m, this 11,500sq/ft depot is now open because of project Genesis. This depot houses around 63 buses, making a much easier and more modern way of housing buses, along with the 180 workers (including drivers and engineers) who transferred from the previous depot, in Stanley. This depot was located on the site of a former ice-rink.

Where will the new depot be located?

The depot is currently on a 2.23-acre site, and is located on Hownsgill Industrial estate, built on a brownfield site, previously a part of the Consett Steelworks. It is a more efficient and better designed facility, and County Durham council leader Councillor Simon Henig said this; “It’s great to see Go North East demonstrating its confidence in our county and our growing economy by making such a significant investment here”. Henig also added; “The opening of this new depot is a sign of optimism for the future of services in our area”.

How much will this benefit the public?

The confidence in this project, coming from the council boosts the public’s view of such an investment, making everyone approve the idea, and spread positive thoughts about it. A public view of the council spending £10m on the purchase of new vehicles, and upgrading older ones, could be negative. However, once it has been put into action, and it is shown how much this was need, and can help public transportation, members of the community have a better mind set about it. Henig said again; “Bus networks link our local communities in a unique way. This new depot will serve to improve valuable public transport services”.

Who does this benefit most?

Go North East has the number 15 bus, and in my personal experience, the new buses from the new depot have been very nice! They have newer seats, a more modern style, and USB ports, for easy access to charging your devices! In terms of students, they started having another ‘15’ bus scheduled on a morning Monday-Friday, as a single bus would become cramped with all the students which use it, going to Lanchester, and into Durham. Personally, I have found this very useful and an effective use of their new drivers and buses.

Overall, the new depot has been well worth the cost, and the effectiveness of it, and all it will provide, if it does not already, will show the public how something as simple as public transport improvements can make a big change within the community.

If you would like to find out more out this, go to https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/ where you find all about their timetables, depots, drivers, etc.


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