Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th February 2025
Our spring conference takes place in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th February and will feature the North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, as our pre-dinner speaker. She has strong views on public transport and one of her five priorities is to deliver a publicly-run transport system for the region.
Kicking things off on Wednesday afternoon is an optional site visit to Stagecoach North East’s Sunderland depot, including electric bus charging facility. And for those who can arrive earlier in the day, we have very limited number of places for an additional visit to see the new Tyne and Wear Metro train and its training facility (this visit is full). Due to the funeral of a member of the Lumo team being held on Wednesday they are, understandably, no longer able to host us on a visit to the training centre and train driving simulator.
The conference presentations will be on Thursday – and we have some top level speakers lined up, including:
- Phil Cummings, Engineering Director, Arriva UK Bus
- Cathy Massarella, Managing Director, Nexus (Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive)
- Anna Courtier, Northern Region, Women in Bus and Coach
- Dan Graham, Managing Director, Northstar
- Josh Devlin, Operations Director, Go North East
- George Sloan, Operations Director, Stagecoach West & Oxford Tube
There will also the ever-popular interactive workshop, details of which will be given on the day. For the full conference programme, click here.
CLICK HERE TO BOOK CONFERENCE PLACES – bookings close at midday on Monday 25th February
Update on 20/02/25 – There are no more double bedrooms left. New residential bookings will be in single bedded rooms.
Timing
The conference will be held at the The County Hotel, which is directly opposite to Newcastle railway station.
- 1115-1130 extra optional visit to see new Metro train departs by Metro from Central station. Visit full.
- 1230 – 1430 running buffet lunch and conference registration at hotel
- 1430 site visit to Stagecoach North East’s Sunderland depot departs
- 1900 pre-dinner speaker Kim McGuinness, North East Mayor will speak and answer questions before dinner. Meet in hotel bar from 1830.
Thursday’s conference sessions begin at 0845 and the conference ends at 1515.
Cost
Residential – includes arrival light lunch, dinner, accommodation in a bedroom for single occupancy and breakfast in addition to the conference sessions, lunch and refreshments: Early bird price until 17th
January £284 +VAT. Full price from 18th January £312 +VAT.
Non-residential – includes arrival light lunch, dinner, the conference sessions, lunch and refreshments, but excludes accommodation and breakfast: Early bird price until 17th January £210 +VAT. Full price from
18th January £231 +VAT.
About the conference venue
The conference will be held at The County Hotel, Neville Street, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 5DF. Telephone 0191 731 6670. There are two sizes of bedroom available. Those who book first will get the larger bedroom.
How to get to The County Hotel
By Train
The hotel is opposite Newcastle railway station.
By Express Coach
FlixBus coaches stop at Newcastle City Library. It’s about 15 minutes walk to The County Hotel. With the Library on your right hand side, walk to the end of the building and turn right into New
Bridge Street West. Walk straight ahead, crossing Pilgrim Street, and keep going until you see Grey’s Monument (tall column) on your left. Turn left after the monument into Grainger Street (not Grey Street with the entrance to the
Metro). Continue to the end of Grainger Street and The County Hotel is on the right at the end of Grainger Street opposite the railway station.
National Express coaches stop at Newcastle Coach Station, about five minutes walk to The County Hotel. Exit into Churchill Street with the coach station on your left and Boulevard (purple painted
building) on your right. Walk straight ahead and along Churchill Street, which becomes a pedestrian street to the end. Cross the main road and walk across Times Square with the blue NHS building on your left and the Life Science
Centre and yellow building on your right. Exit the square under the glass bridge and cross the road ahead towards the stone-built building, which is the end of Newcastle railway station. Walk along the front of the station and you’ll
see The County Hotel opposite the station.
By Air
The nearest airport is Newcastle International. Metro trains run to Central Station five times an hour with a journey time of 25 minutes. A single ticket costs £4.50 or there’s a Metro Day Ticket for £5.90. For £6 there’s a Tyne and Wear Day Rover which includes travel on buses, the Shields Ferry and rail services, as well as the Metro. Central Station is under Newcastle railway station. The County Hotel is opposite the station.
By Car
There is very limited parking at The County Hotel at a cost of £10 for 24 hours.
Dinner menu
Starter
Option A: Country vegetable soup (gluten free, vegan)
Option B: Vietnamese shredded chicken salad with peanut dressing (gluten free, contains nuts)
Option C: Blue cheese tart with spinach and walnuts (vegetarian, contains nuts)
Main
Option D: Chicken supreme with creamed potato, buttered leeks and a creamy mushroom sauce (gluten free)
Option E: Slow cooked feather blade of beef with creamed potato, seasonal vegetables and gravy (gluten free)
Option F: Roast salmon fillet with crushed dill potato, buttered greens and caper butter (gluten free)
Option G: Cambodian yellow vegetable curry with fragrant rice (gluten free, vegan, contains nuts)
Dessert
Option H: Dark chocolate tart with vanilla mascarpone and hazelnut praline (vegetarian, contains nuts)
Option I: Lemon meringue pie with Italian meringue (vegetarian)
Option J: Salted caramel chocolate brownie with strawberry coulis and raspberry sorbet (gluten free, vegan)
Tea and coffee
Updated 21/02/25