North East travel: This is when the Metro, buses and Shields Ferry are running over Christmas and New Year

Wrapping should nearly be finished, plans have been made and the final few days ahead of Christmas Day are here, but how can we travel across Tyne and Wear during the festivities? This is all you need to know about public transport across the North East over Christmas and New Year.

When is the Tyne and Wear Metro running over Christmas?

Christmas Eve will see a standard Saturday service continue until around 6pm – with times varying between stations – before an hourly service throughout the system. The only exception to this hourly system is with trains between Pelaw and South Gosforth, which will see a new train every 30 minutes until the end of the day, for those looking to pick up some last minute Christmas shopping.

No services will run throughout Christmas Day, while Boxing Day and Tuesday, December 27 will see a weekday service without the additional peak services.

New Year’s Eve will see a Saturday service, until around 10pm, when a 30 minute service will run until the end of the service. A 15 minute service will also run between Pelaw and South Gosforth. No metro service will run on New Year’s Day, while the bank holiday on Monday (January 2) will see regular weekday service without peak services.

When are buses running across Tyne and Wear during Christmas and New Year?

Go North East buses will run to normal times until Friday, December 23, with service changes starting on Christmas Eve. On Saturday, December 24, buses will run to a regular Saturday timetable but final services will start at around 6pm.

No services will run on Christmas day and a series of changes will be made to Boxing Day services where only select services will be running, and these will be running to special timetables.

Buses will run to Sunday timetables on Tuesday, December 27, and Monday, January 2.

Saturday timetables are expected from Wednesday, December 28, until New Year’s Eve, when final services will run between 6pm and 7pm.

No buses will run on New Year’s Day and regular schedules return on Tuesday, January 3.

Much like Go North East services, Stagecoach buses will run to regular schedules until Christmas Eve when last buses will start their runs at around 6pm ahead of a day of no buses on Christmas Day.

Skeleton services across 3, 4, 10/11, 13, 16, 20, 23 and E2, E6 services will run on Boxing Day between 10am and 6pm.

Sunday services will run on Tuesday, December 27, and Monday, January 2, with Saturday Services from Wednesday, December 28 until New Year’s Eve when last services will start from 6pm. No services will run on New Year’s Day.

When is the Shields Ferry running over Christmas and New Year?

No ferries will run on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day with the last services on Christmas Eve at 6:15pm from South Shields and 6:30pm from North Shields. The same will occur on New Year’s Eve.

Boxing Day ferries will run to a usual timetable and final services happening at 5:45pm.

The ferry will run to a normal timetable on Monday, January 2, with the first crossing from South Shields at 6.45am and the last crossing back from North Shields at 8pm.