Since we took over the Nexus contract for service 18 operating between Walker, St Peter's Basin, Byker, Freeman Hospital, Four Lane Ends and Quorum/Benton Estate, buses have suffered from delays and reliability has been poor.

Our drivers have been trying their best to adhere to the timetable, but it is clear that the timetable needs to be revised in order to help them do this.

In partnership with Nexus, we have developed a new timetable, using real-time information to review in detail how long journeys actually take, taking into account passenger loadings and traffic congestion.

From Monday 27 April, a new timetable will be introduced on service 18, which can be viewed here.

A summary of the changes is outlined below:

• Once per hour, service 18 will be revised to terminate at Four Lane Ends on Monday to Saturday daytimes. Benton Estate will continue to be served hourly.
• Due to the low number of passengers travelling between 9:00am and 3:00pm, BT Call Centre will be omitted during these times. It will continue to be served in the morning and afternoon, Monday to Saturday.
• Minor timetable changes will be made throughout Monday to Saturday daytimes
• On weekdays, the 07:42 service from Walker to Quorum will run direct from BT Call Centre to Quorum via Balliol Bus Link. Passengers for Four Lane Ends can remain on the bus on arrival at Quorum to get to Four Lane Ends.
• To improve reliability during school holidays when there is less traffic congestion, the 07:22 service from Four Lane Ends to Walker will run up to 10 minutes later than during school term-time.
• Service 18 will continue to serve St Peter's Basin on an hourly basis, Monday to Saturday, for the duration of the roadworks.
• The timetable will remain the same on evenings and Sundays, but for the duration of the roadworks at St Peter's Basin, which continue to impact the reliability of service 18, we will have additional spare buses at Four Lane Ends to ensure more prompt departures.

We apologise for the delays which our buses have suffered since we took over the contract during March, and thank you for your patience.

Nexus has undertaken detailed analysis of where customers are travelling to and from, and whilst we are disappointed to announce a frequency reduction on some sections of the route, we can add additional running and recovery time to the timetable by making these changes, ensuring that the service operates more reliably in the areas where most customers travel.