Darlington Borough Council has introduced new and improved bus services to connect communities and enable extra Sunday and evening journeys. The changes are being delivered in partnership with Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA), which has committed more than £8.9 million to secure bus services across the region until at least March 2028.

New Routes and Services

The improvements include a regular hourly service to Sadberge and Bishopton during the day Monday to Saturday. A half-hourly service now runs between Mowden and Darlington, with new direct services from the west end of town to the railway station and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, broadly following the current 16 and 17 routes.

A regular hourly service to West Park Hospital has been introduced, reintroducing evening and Sunday service from Mowden, West Park and the west end of town to the new Esh housing development on Neasham Road. An hourly service for Glebe Road and an improved half-hourly service for Middleton St George are also now in place.

A new direct hourly service connects Darlington, Heighington, School Aycliffe and Newton Aycliffe. A direct bus to Teesside Park is now available, and evening and Sunday services on the 6/6A/6B, which were introduced last May, continue.

Funding and Support

Evening and Sunday services are being funded by Darlington Borough Council using developer contributions from sites around West Park and Darlington Arena.

Steve Harker, leader of Darlington Borough Council, said: "One of our ambitions laid down in the Council Plan is to create thriving and connected communities and reliable and accessible bus services are a key part of that. Good bus services play a vital role in helping people get to education, employment, healthcare and other essential destinations and I am delighted we could work with the TVCA to make this happen."

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen added: "We want as many people as possible linked up to jobs, education and the services they need. Backing these extra buses creates those links - it shows what we can do when we work together with bus operators and deliver the services people need and want."

Full details of all bus service updates are available on the Travel section of the Tees Valley website.