Service Updates
On this page you can find information about the latest bus and rail services being introduced in the region, as well as disruptions to services and contact information about service providers.
On this page you can find information about the latest bus and rail services being introduced in the region, as well as disruptions to services and contact information about service providers.
In December 2025, Cabinet made the decision to no longer continue operating the on-demand bus service currently operated by Stagecoach and funded by the Combined Authority. The last day of operations for this service will therefore be Saturday 28th March 2026.
New services, alongside various extensions to current services, will be in place from the end of March 2026 to provide coverage to areas of Tees Flex high demand that will otherwise be left with no alternative. Further information on these routes can be found in the ‘Service Changes’ section below.
Single bus fares are currently capped at no more than £3.
The cap means no single bus fare on routes included in the scheme will exceed £3. Routes where fares are less than £3 will only be allowed to increase by inflation in the normal way meaning that some fares will remain below the cap.
A list of bus companies and bus routes in Tees Valley which are included in the scheme can be found here – £3 national bus fare cap – GOV.UK
Supported Bus Services
TVCA currently support various services across the network through our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) allocation, which as of April 2026 will be renamed the Local Authority Bus Grant. In anticipation of this funding, and in light of the withdrawal of Tees Flex from our network from March 2026, we are currently carrying out a review of all our current service enhancements.
Until this review has concluded, to keep disruption to passengers at a minimum, we can confirm the following services have been extended until July 2026 at the earliest:
Please note that from April 2026, Service 29 will now operate twice per hour to Cypress Road, with one journey per hour following the existing route and one journey per hour diverted via Coulby Newham Parkway Centre.
Please click here for the revised Service 29 timetable.
Please refer to the relevant operator’s website for timetables.
In addition, two new routes and a service Extension will be introduced until July 2026 at the earliest. These services were introduced following the decision to withdraw Tees Flex:
To be operated by Stagecoach - timetable
To be operated by Stagecoach - timetable
To be operated by Arriva - timetable
Please note that whilst this is a separate service to X86, there is interchange opportunity available across both routes so that passengers can connect between Stockton & Darlington.
Emergency evening withdrawal of service 39 from the Overdale Road area due to vandalism until further notice
From every evening until further notice, Stagecoach North East advise that due to numerous acts of vandalism in the Overdale Road area where numerous bus windows have been broken, service 39 will regrettably have to omit this section of route every evening.
Read more here
From Sunday 14th December 2025, new timetables will be implemented for all the train operators that serve the Tees Valley and some of these will involve changes to existing service patterns and timings. Detailed information about these changes, including all the new timetables and summaries of the impacts at some key stations, can be found on the dedicated website as follows: https://ecmltimetable.info/
Due to urgent repairs to the footbridge, until further notice no Northern services in the Eastbound direction (towards Redcar/Saltburn) are able to call at South Bank station. To assist customers to complete their journey, a shuttle bus has been provided between Middlesbrough, South Bank & Redcar Central. Customers at South Bank travelling towards Saltburn should board the shuttle service and then connect at Redcar Central for Northern services towards Saltburn. Services in the Westbound direction (towards Middlesbrough) will continue to operate as normal at South Bank.
From Sunday 17th May 2026, there will be some minor changes to timetables in the Tees Valley. Following stakeholder feedback, Sunday connectivity between Whitby, Middlesbrough and the Durham Coast is being improved with the 15:42 and 18:41 services from Whitby now both running through to Newcastle via the Durham Coast. The other change relates to the 06:17 Darlington to Bishop Auckland service (Monday to Saturday) which will now depart at 06:19, with arrival times at stations along the route now two minutes later.
On Weekends between Saturday 27th June and Sunday 12th July due to engineering works, Northern trains to/from Teesside on the Durham Coast routes via Hartlepool will start and terminate at Seaham. Replacement buses will run between Horden/Seaham and Newcastle. Trains will run between Newcastle and stations to Carlisle.
On Saturday 18th July and Sunday 19th July, due to engineering works there will be no Northern trains operating on the Durham Coast routes via Hartlepool. Buses will replace trains between Middlesbrough and Newcastle.
Please check the Northern website regularly for the very latest information: https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/check-before-you-travel
Due to the on-going Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU), which is delivering major improvements to the rail network, primarily between York and Manchester, there may periodically be diversions or alterations to service provision and timings on the TPE routes to Teesside and through Darlington. For more information on the project and any associated TPE service implications, please regularly review the TRU website - https://thetrupgrade.co.uk/aboutus, as well as the TPE website below.
From Monday 29th June to Friday 3rd July, due to engineering works there will be no route in/out of Manchester Victoria from the east. TPE services to/from Teesside and Darlington will start and terminate at Manchester Piccadilly during this period, and an amended timetable will be in operation.
On Weekends between Saturday 4th July and Sunday 2nd August, due to engineering works all TPE services will be diverted via Todmorden and will not call at Huddersfield but will additionally call at Brighouse. On Saturdays the Teesside service will run between Redcar Central and Manchester Victoria only while on Sundays it will still run between Redcar Central and Manchester Airport. The TPE service via Darlington will still run between Newcastle and Liverpool Lime Street. Replacement buses will run between Huddersfield and Brighouse.
On Weekends between Saturday 8th and Sunday 23rd August, due to engineering works there will be no TPE trains between Leeds/Dewsbury and Huddersfield. Trains on the TPE Teesside route will run between Redcar Central and Dewsbury and TPE trains via Darlington will run between Newcastle and Leeds. TPE trains will run to the usual destinations west from Huddersfield. Buses will replace trains between Leeds and Huddersfield and between Dewsbury and Huddersfield.
From Monday 10th to Friday 14th August, due to engineering works there will be no route in/out of Manchester Victoria from the east. TPE services to/from Teesside and Darlington will start and terminate at Manchester Piccadilly during this period, and an amended timetable will be in operation.
On Weekends between Saturday 5th and Sunday 13th September, due to engineering works there will be no TPE trains between Leeds/Dewsbury and Huddersfield. Trains on the TPE Teesside route will run between Redcar Central and Dewsbury and TPE trains via Darlington will run between Newcastle and Leeds. TPE trains will run to the usual destinations west from Huddersfield. Buses will replace trains between Leeds and Huddersfield and between Dewsbury and Huddersfield.
From Saturday 19th September to Sunday 4th October, due to engineering works there will be no TPE calls at Huddersfield. TPE trains on the Newcastle<->Liverpool route, serving Darlington, will be diverted via Hebden Bridge. TPE trains on the Teesside route will also be diverted via Hebden Bridge, operating between Redcar Central and Manchester Victoria on all days except the Sunday when services will run between Redcar Central and Manchester Airport
Please check the TPE website regularly for the very latest information: https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates/planned-engineering-work
Due to on-going engineering works on the East Coast Main Line, there may occasionally be minor changes to service times at Darlington. Please regularly check the LNER website below for the latest information.
On Saturday 29th August, in readiness for major works on the East Coast Mainline the following day, a small number of LNER services at Darlington will start/terminate at different stations than normal.
On Sunday 30th August, as part of the East Coast Digital Investment Programme, there will be no LNER services between London King’s Cross and Peterborough. There will be a reduced LNER service, operating in both directions, between Scotland and Peterborough, serving Darlington. Customers travelling to or from Central London can take a rail replacement coach service between Peterborough and Bedford to connect with other operators' services to/from London St Pancras. Impacted journeys will be significantly longer than usual.
On Monday 31st August, as a result of the major works the previous day, a number of early morning LNER services at Darlington will be amended or cancelled. The 07.35 from Middlesbrough to London King’s Cross will also not run that morning.
On Sunday 13th September, LNER will be operating some additional services from Darlington for customers wishing to travel to the Great North Run in Newcastle.
On Saturday 19th/Sunday 20th and Saturday 26th/Sunday 27th September, due to major engineering works LNER trains to/from Scotland beyond Newcastle will be diverted via Carlisle. An approximate hourly LNER service will operate on this route via Carlisle and journey times will be extended by up to 2 hours. Replacement buses will run between Newcastle and Edinburgh, calling at Morpeth, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Reston and Dunbar.
Please check the LNER website regularly for the very latest information: https://www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/changes-to-train-times/
On Weekends between Saturday 27th June and Sunday 12th July due to engineering works, GC services will start and terminate at either Hartlepool or Seaham. Replacement buses will run between Sunderland and Hartlepool or Seaham, depending on where the train starts/terminates. All GC trains will either depart or arrive at Hartlepool and Eaglescliffe at approximately the same time as the usual Saturday and Sunday timetables.
On Saturday 18th July and Sunday 19th July, due to engineering works there will be no GC trains operating on the Durham Coast line via Hartlepool. On those days, all GC trains will start/terminate at Eaglescliffe and replacement buses will run between Eaglescliffe and Sunderland, serving Hartlepool.
On Sunday 30th August, due to major works on the East Coast Mainline, no GC services will operate on the Sunderland <-> London King's Cross route in either direction, meaning that there will be no GC trains at either Hartlepool or Eaglescliffe that day.
Please check the Grand Central website regularly for the very latest information: https://www.grandcentralrail.com/travelling-with-gc/disruptions
Due to on-going staffing issues, there may be short-notice changes to CrossCountry trains serving Darlington, particularly at weekends. Please regularly check the CrossCountry website for the very latest information (https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/).
On Weekends between Saturday 8th August and Sunday 23rd August, due to engineering works there will be no XC trains running between Leeds and York. XC services between Plymouth and Edinburgh (serving Darlington) will now not call at Wakefield Westgate and Leeds but will call additionally at Doncaster. XC trains between Reading and Newcastle services will now only operate between Reading and Leeds via Wakefield Westgate and will not call at Doncaster. Connecting rail services will run between Leeds and York.
On Saturday 19th/Sunday 20th and Saturday 26th/Sunday 27th September, due to major engineering works no XC trains will run north of Newcastle. Replacement buses will operate between Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed / Edinburgh.
For information relating to the impact of engineering works on CrossCountry services please check: https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-information/disruption/planned-engineering-work
For the very latest information please visit the following operator websites:
Northern - https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/service-updates
TransPennine Express - https://www.tpexpress.co.uk/travel-updates
LNER - https://www.lner.co.uk/travel-information/travel-updates/
CrossCountry - https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-information/service-updates
Grand Central - https://www.grandcentralrail.com/travelling-with-gc/live-arrivals-and-departures
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