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Bus passengers have been warned to take extra precautions and be aware of a major operator’s new seven-day Sunday timetable.

Stagecoach North East has announced that services in Sunderland, South Shields, Hartlepool, Newcastle and Teesside will be reduced from Monday, March 30, in line with government restrictions on non-essential travel.

The firm’s announcement follows a similar announcement yesterday by Go North East about the introduction of reduced bus services across the region from March 28.

Stagecoach will operate Sunday timetables during weekdays and Saturdays although they will start earlier in the morning to assist journeys for key workers.

Stagecoach North East has announced changes to its Sunderland, South Shields and Hartlepool bus services from Monday, March 30. | Other 3rd Party

Where a service would otherwise not normally operate on a Sunday, a special Saturday timetable will apply.

Normal Sunday timetables will operate on Sundays.

In addition to enhanced cleaning regimes, Stagecoach has taken extensive action to protect the safety of its customers and staff with a number of additional measures in place.

Contactless payments are being encouraged wherever possible and social distancing guidelines are being displayed on buses.

In partnership with local authorities, Stagecoach is accepting the use of free concessionary travel passes before the normal 9.30am threshold to enable elderly customers to make use of dedicated shopping hours in place at many supermarkets.

Steve Walker, managing director of Stagecoach North East, said: “We continue to play a crucial role in ensuring that key workers such as NHS staff and the people vital to the food supply chain can get into work.

“We have tried hard with our temporary timetables to ensure that we are continuing to serve critical routes.

“If our customers feel we haven’t got things quite right, then we’d really like to receive any comments through our dedicated feedback form which can be found at www.stagecoachbus.com/coronavirus.

“I’m extremely proud of the way in which our team in the North East is pulling together to ensure that we can continue to deliver our services.

“They are key workers too and I would like to thank them for their continued support and resilience in these challenging times.”

Passengers are urged to keep checking Stagecoach’s www.stagecoachbus.com/coronavirus timetable for any further amendments.

Stagecoach North East introduces seven-day Sunday timetable