QuayLink

QuayLink
Stagecoach North East QuayLink Designline Olymbus in March 2008
Parent Nexus
Founded 2005
Locale Tyne & Wear
Service area Newcastle upon Tyne
Gateshead
Service type Bus service
Routes Q1: Gateshead Interchange-Central station
Q2: Central station-Gateshead Interchange
Q3: Great Park-Wallsend station
Fuel type Hybrid diesel-electric 2005–2010
Low-emission diesel 2010–present
Operator Stagecoach North East 2005–2010
Go North East 2010–present

QuayLink is a bus service in Tyne & Wear, England, connecting Newcastle city centre and Gateshead with the Quayside area. Conceived as a high-quality environmentally friendly operation and funded by Nexus, it was launched in 2005. Following budget cuts in 2015, the service is now operated by Go North East on a commercial basis, having been extended further into the suburbs.

Inception

QuayLink bus stop
Stagecoach North East QuayLink Designline Olymbus in May 2009
Stagecoach North East QuayLink Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Dart in Newcastle upon Tyne in March 2009
Stagecoach North East Alexander ALX300 bodied MAN 18.220 operating route Q1 in April 2006
Go North East QuayLink Optare Versa in November 2013

The QuayLink service was conceived as a high quality service for the redeveloped and expanding Quayside area, which, although extremely close to Newcastle and Gateshead town centres, was outside the traditional operating area of existing bus services and was dominated by car usage.[1]

In June 2002, Newcastle and Gateshead councils and the Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Executive (Nexus) invited tenders for operation of a proposed Tyne Quayside Link, and for manufacture of eight alternatively-fuelled buses for a Quayside Transit System. The total project, scheduled for launch in 2004, would cost £5 million, with £3 million coming from the local transport plan, £1 million from regeneration funds for Gateshead, and £1 million from the Quayside developers.[2] As well as new buses, the project involved the construction of a bus lane and improvements to some bus stops, making them fully accessible.

Stagecoach operation

Stagecoach North East won the tender to operate the service, with the buses chosen being the Designline Olymbus model built in New Zealand and which had been introduced into service in Christchurch in 1998. Stagecoach boss Brian Souter had arranged the purchase of a prototype Olymbus while on a visit to Stagecoach New Zealand. It arrived in October 2004 and toured the country in Stagecoach corporate livery on proving trials until April 2005. A further nine buses followed, with the fleet of ten being allocated to the Walkergate depot, which received the necessary upgrades to accommodate them. They were substantially modified for operation in England, notably using a leaf door design over the plug design.[3] While the buses were double doored, the middle door was only provided for wheelchair access. Prior to launch, all ten buses were pictured on the Quayside with local dignitaries and partner representatives.[2]

The service launched on 22 July 2005 as a week-long free shuttle service to coincide with the 2005 Tall Ships Race, with the full service commencing on 29 July 2005.[4][5]

The Olymbuses were initially turbine powered diesel-electric hybrids, in which the wheels were solely driven by electric motors, powered by on-board battery packs. The batteries were charged overnight, and then re-charged while the bus is in operation in one of two ways: from a diesel powered turbine-generator, or through regenerative braking. The turbine/generators used were of a multi-fuel design - a fleet of buses in Tempe, Arizona were using the same generator running from liquefied natural gas around the same time.

Even with the turbine running, the buses were credited with a markedly quiet ride compared to conventional vehicles. Various types and manufacturers of battery packs were used - the prototype had to have its Hawker Genesis batteries replaced before entering service, due to being allowed to completely discharge while the vehicle was waiting to be certified. The nine production buses arrived with Portalac batteries, but by 2006 these had to be replaced with Hawker Genesis & Odyssey types having been life-expired.[6]

The service cost £8 million to set up and initially passenger numbers were low; carrying just 11,000 passengers a week.[7]

The service began with two routes, Q1 and Q2 - the Q1 connected Newcastle Central station to the Gateshead Quayside and town centre and Gateshead Interchange, by crossing the River Tyne via the Swing Bridge. In the Gateshead Quayside it passes The Sage and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. The Q2 stayed on the Newcastle side, connecting the Haymarket bus station and Newcastle Civic Centre in the northern side of the city centre, with the Quayside. Both routes share a small section in the city centre along Grey Street, Dean Street and Side, with three shared stops - Theatre Royal (top), Grey Street and Quayside (Guildhall).

As ridership increased, by 31 May 2007 the services had carried one million passengers.[8] Following development of the Ouseburn Valley, on 3 September 2007 the Q2 service was extended through Ouseburn to the St Peter's Basin area to the east.[9]

By the end of 2008, due to the turbines in the buses being unable to keep the batteries charged for the whole day leading to some instances of buses being withdrawn and replaced with conventional buses, it was announced that Stagecoach were going to replace the turbine/generators with a conventional diesel engine as an alternative charging system. This modification was going to be done to one bus first on a trial basis, to be evaluated in early 2009, with an anticipated cost of modifying the whole fleet of £200,000.[10] To augment the hybrid fleet, Stagecoach also painted two step-entrance Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Darts in QuayLink livery.

Transfer to Go North East

Although it was decided the service would continue when the contract came up for renewal in summer 2010, it was specified that the Olymbuses should be replaced with new buses, because of difficulties coping with the hilly nature of the route.[11]

Go North East won the contract to operate the service, again with a five-year contract, with operations transferred on 18 July 2010. The buses specified this time were to be conventional diesel Optare Versas, but with engines to the Euro V EEV (Enhanced Environmental Vehicle) specification, which it was claimed would make the service greener than the previous Olymbuses. Conventional buses were used on the route for the first three weeks, with a fleet of nine Optare Versas entering service from 10 August 2010. They feature increased seating capacity, information screens and audio announcements.[12][13][14]

The Designline hybrids were later sold for scrap, with plans by Nexus to use them on other routes not coming to fruition.[15]

Relaunch as commercial service

Due to budget cuts, it was announced at the end of 2014 that Newcastle and Gateshead councils would no longer fund the service beyond the end of the second contract, due to finish in July 2015. Go North East instead opted to continue to operate the service on a commercial basis with minimal funding from Nexus which itself would also end within three years.[16][17]

On 26 July 2015, Go North East relaunched the service with a new look and with major changes to the routes - the Q1 route was merged with the existing Orbit branded 51/52 (bi-directional circulars), and renumbered Q1 and Q2. These changes extended the reach of the QuayLink network beyond Gateshead to the south, with the circular route connecting Felling, Heworth, Springwell Village, Wrekenton and Low Fell. Similarly, the old Q2 was merged with the existing Great Park & Ride branded X40/40A route, and renumbered Q3. This extended the network to the north beyond Haymarket to Newcastle Great Park and Gosforth. The relaunched services continued to use Optare Versas with a yellow and purple livery for the new Q1/Q2, and yellow and green for the Q3.[18][19] The Q3 was extended to Wallsend station in July 2016.[20]

Routes

Route Start End Via Notes
Q1 Gateshead Interchange Newcastle Central station Heworth station, Wrekenton, Gateshead Interchange, Quayside [21]
Q2 Newcastle Central station Gateshead Interchange Quayside, Gateshead Interchange, Wrekenton, Heworth station [21]
Q3 Newcastle Great Park Wallsend station Regent Centre station, Gosforth, Haymarket, Quayside, Walker [22]

References

  1. ↑ Quaylink frequency asked questions Newcastle Council
  2. 1 2 Tyneside's QuayLink scheme CommuniGate
  3. ↑ Getting the buses into service CommuniGate
  4. ↑ Free QuayLink buses during Tall Ships' Races Stagecoach North East 3 July 2005
  5. ↑ Stagecoach QuayLink's extension proposal Bus & Coach Professional 14 March 2006
  6. ↑ Quaylink bus Battery Demon
  7. ↑ Backing for electric bus service BBC News 13 March 2006
  8. ↑ QuayLink passenger is one in a million Nexus 31 May 2007
  9. ↑ QuayLink heads for Ouseburn and St Peter's Nexus 3 September 2007
  10. ↑ Quaylink bus service faces £200,000 repairs Evening Chronicle 15 December 2008
  11. ↑ Plug pulled on Newcastle quayside electric bus Evening Chronicle 28 June 2010
  12. ↑ "Quaylink Sees A New Operator From 18th July" Travel North East 7 June 2010
  13. ↑ New diesel Quaylink buses still eco-friendly Evening Chronicle 10 August 2010
  14. ↑ Brand new QuayLink fleet takes to the road Nexus 9 August 2010
  15. ↑ Designlines to be scrapped? Focus Transport 17 March 2013
  16. ↑ Quaylink bus service to be saved after councils funding withdrawn ITV News 18 December 2014
  17. ↑ Quaylink fuels row over quality contracts Bus & Coach Professional 19 December 2014
  18. ↑ Changes to services from 26 July 2015 Go North East
  19. ↑ Improved Quay bucks trend Route One 4 May 2016
  20. ↑ Service changes in North Tyneside from 24 & 31 July Go North East
  21. 1 2 Q1/Q2 timetable Go North East
  22. ↑ Q3 timetable Go North East
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