Stagecoach North East

Stagecoach North East is a major operator of bus services in North East England. It is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group. The company is made up of two formerly municipal operations; Busways and Transit. The Stagecoach North East Head Office is based at Sunderland Depot.

Busways Travel Services Ltd.
Stagecoach's first presence in the North East of England came with the acquisition of Busways in July 1994 from its employees and management shareholders. Busways Travel Services Ltd. is now a holding company for Stagecoach North East's operations in Newcastle, South Shields and Sunderland, the three locations in which Busways operated.

Stagecoach in South Shields
Stagecoach is the largest operator of local services in South Shields. Stagecoach in South Shields operates mostly local services within South Shields, however services linking the town to Jarrow, Sunderland, Gateshead and Newcastle are also operated. Stagecoach in South Shields is the eventual successor to South Shields Corporation Transport. Details on services operated by Stagecoach in South Shields are given below.

Depot

 * South Shields (Dean Road (West), Chichester)

Stagecoach in Sunderland
Sunderland operates a large network of local services in the city. Sunderland’s operations are confined to the city’s boundaries. Services E1, E2 and E6, which operates out of the city to South Shields are operated by Stagecoach in South Shields.

Depot

 * Sunderland (Dundas Street, North Bridge Street, Monkwearmouth)

Cleveland Transit Ltd.
Stagecoach acquired Cleveland Transit in September 1994. The group also acquired Kingston upon Hull City Transport, now part of Stagecoach East Midlands. Darlington Transport Company Limited (DTC) refused to sell to Stagecoach, so was run off the road. Hartlepool Transport agreed a sale with Stagecoach. The Stagecoach Darlington company was sold to Arriva in 2007.

Stagecoach in Hartlepool
Hartlepool operates a network of local services around Hartlepool. It also operates service 1 to Middlesbrough.

Depot

 * Hartlepool (Brenda Road)

Stagecoach on Teesside
Stagecoach on Teesside operate a number of local services in the Middlesbrough and Stockton areas, as well as the 36 to Hartlepool

Depot

 * Stockton (Hill Street East, Church Road)

Stagecoach in Darlington
The newly acquired Busways company was a key participant in the Darlington Bus War, which ended with a new Stagecoach presence in Darlington. The Stagecoach Darlington company later passed from Busways to Transit.

On 9 May 2007 it was announced by Arriva North East a conditional deal with Stagecoach to take over the Darlington division, providing the Office of Fair Trading did not refer to deal to the Competition Commission. In the deal Arriva would merge its current Darlington operation with Stagecoach's and use the current Stagecoach Darlington depot in Faverdale.

On 22 August 2007 the OFT announced it was not to refer the sale to the Competition Commission. On the same day Stagecoach announced the deal would be going ahead. On 23 August 2007 Arriva announced it was to take over Stagecoach Darlington's operations on 26 August 2007.

Fleet
See List of Busways Standard Vehicle Types