Sunlight used to power bus stops

The solar powered units display updated timetables

Solar power is being harnessed to supply essential travel information for bus passengers in rural parts of Tyneside and Wearside.

The pilot project involves nine bus stops being fitted with solar panels to power display screens.

The so-called "smart bus stops" cost a total of £150,000 to install.

They are located at Gosforth Park, Burradon, Marsden Grotto, Cleadon, Penshaw, Newbottle, Winlaton Mill, Greenside and North Walbottle.

The units receive text data from a central control centre and also have audio for visually impaired people.

Finger tips

Cash for the scheme came from the Department for Transport's rural bus challenge fund.

The units are powered by extra long life batteries which are charged up by solar energy, provided by large solar panels at the top of each bus stop.

Bernard Garner, director general of Nexus, which is responsible for coordinating bus services in Tyne and Wear, said: "I think it's great that we've been able to use a renewable source of energy to help our passengers in the more remote parts of Tyneside and Wearside to have timetable information at their finger tips.

"It's even better that these new units have an audio facility for people who are blind or partially sighted, because public transport provision is all about improving social inclusion."