This new bus route does exist despite what the signs say

Saturday 20th June 2026 Blog reader Mark contacted me last week sharing his frustration at the lack of information and marketing about a new bus route introduced 12 weeks ago, at the end of March, between Hartlepool and the villages of Elwick and Dalton Piercy. Route 51 is funded by Tees Valley Combined Authority and operated by Stagecoach. It comprises an hourly Monday to Saturday timetable taking one bus with an 11 hour operating day between 07:00 and 19:00. It’s one of two routes introduced by the Authority as part replacements for the withdrawal, after six years, of the Stagecoach operated TeesFlex DRT service which was deemed to be no longer affordable. The 51 is joined by new (also Stagecoach operated) route X85 linking Redmarshall, Whitton, Stillington, and Bishopton to Stockton town centre and also an extension of Arriva’s route 10 linking Great Burdon, Sadberge, Little Stainton, Bishopton, Redmarshall, Carlton, Stillington, and Great Stainton thereby covering much of the area…