ABOVE: Stagecoach North East 73142 (NL25 FFD), a Yutong E12, stands at North Tees Hospital, between trips on route 37 to / from Middlesbrough. All photos in this article were taken on Thursday 18 September 2025, unless otherwise stated.
100 British Bus Routes: Route 37
Middlesbrough to North Tees Hospital
31 January 2026
Runs: Daily, with a full evening service
Operator: Stagecoach North East
Weekday daytime frequency: Hourly
Weekday Vehicle Requirement: Two buses
Off-peak journey time (weekdays): 41-43 minutes
Estimated route length: 10-11 miles
It's very busy at Middlesbrough Bus Station. It's 16:10 on a Thursday afternoon, so it's hardly surprising. Schoolchildren are demob-happy as the evening beckons. Some head for the fast food outlets of the town, whilst others don't seem in a hurry to head anywhere. The autumn term is only around two weeks old, so the uniforms on some of the newest High School pupils are still in pristine condition. That won't last.
Middlesbrough Bus Station is U-shaped, with the main entrance at the 'bottom' of the U, meaning customers spill out around both sides to reach their chosen services. And I have been pushed right to one end of the U to access the number 37, which I am catching to Tees Valley Hospital. There's a decent crowd awaiting this bus as it pulls round to start the 16:15 journey.
Stagecoach North East has upgraded its Middlesbrough fleet with an influx of new Yutong 12-metre electrics, and they stand out dramatically against the Arriva North East fleet, largely made up of Wright Pulsars of circa 15 years' vintage.
ABOVE: Stagecoach North East 73142 (NL25 FFD, extreme right), a Yutong E12, and one of its fellows (extreme left) flank four Arriva North East vehicles, including a rare Optare Tempo (behind the 37), at Middlesbrough Bus Station
The 37 is one of a trio of linked routes (with the 36 & 38) that provide a combined 10-minute frequency between Middlesbrough, Teesside Park, Stockton-on-Tees and Norton. Numerous other services (from Stagecoach North East, Arriva North East and Go North East) also link Middlesbrough and Stockton via various different routes. The two towns are less than five miles apart so that's no surprise.
This is going to be a busy run. We set off from the Bus Station with a decent load, but it's standing room only (and not much of that to spare) by the time we reach the Newport Interchange (a major road junction), just five minutes into the journey.
This pushes us onto the first of two fast stretches along the trunk A66 road, which starts just east of here and cuts right across the country to Workington in Cumbria, 114 miles away. Ours is a rather shorter stretch, parallel to the Stockton Road (and early morning and evening services use this road instead).
We're heading into Teesside Park (or "T. PK" as it is abbreviated to on some bus destination displays). This is a retail and leisure complex, which opened in 1988. The development was built on the former Stockton Racecourse, with roads in the park being named after famous racecourses around the country.
The vast site (have a look at this aerial view) straddles the Old River Tees and two local authorities. It takes a few minutes for the bus to work its way into, and around, the site.
There are a couple of bus stops on various parts of the site, but, as with most retail sites, the car is king. There are huge numbers of parking spaces provided, but the bus stop at the focal point of the site, (by Curry's) is just that - one bus stop, barely big enough for two buses to pull into together, that has to suffice for buses in both directions. With the 36 / 37 / 38 accounting for 12 buses per hour and other buses coming through, there must be times when it is extremely congested there.
We head out of the site and return to the A66 for another quick burst to Thornaby Station, to the north of the main town centre, and on the outskirts of Stockton. Again, early and late journeys serve all stops on the parallel stretch, although those journeys do not go into Teesside Park.
ABOVE: Farewell to the A66, which we have just pulled off, and are now crossing, in order to serve Thornaby and Stockton.
We cross the River Tees:
ABOVE: A view of the River Tees, looking to the south
And so to Stockton-on-Tees itself. We have crossed from North Yorkshire into County Durham.
Stockton began as an Anglo-Saxon settlement, on high ground close to the northern bank of the River Tees. It was purchased by Bishop Pudsey of Durham in 1189, and founded as a borough by 1283. It was granted a market charter by Bishop Bek of Durham in 1310, who decreed that there should be a market here "every Wednesday for ever".
The town grew rapidly as the Industrial Revolution started, with the population growing from 10,000 in 1851 to over 50,000 in 1901. The discovery of iron ore in the Eston Hills resulted in blast furnaces lining the River Tees from Stockton to the river's mouth.
The focal point of the town is the High Street, where Dodshon's Fountain, an historic Victorian drinking fountain and former animal trough, can be found. It was erected in 1878 to honour philanthropist John Dodshon, and was designed to provide clean water to the public and animals.
ABOVE: Dodshon's Fountain in Stockton-on-Tees (centre left), on Wednesday 17 September 2025. The Town Hall can also be seen (right), of which more below.
In terms of bus operations here, the focal point is also the High Street, where two separate clusters of bus stops stand, at the northern and southern ends. Those routes that are coming in and going out from the south, doing a double-run, will stop three times, at the southern cluster on the way in, then at the northern cluster where they will turn around, and again at the southern cluster on the way out.
Bus information is less than impressive. There's a poster on each stop that shows all of the stands, and advises which routes serve each stop. But it's not especially eye-catching, and the posters look tired (as in the example below). I admit to being concerned that the posters are dated October 2019.
In terms of bus operations here, the focal point is also the High Street, where two separate clusters of bus stops stand, at the northern and southern ends. Those routes that are coming in and going out from the south, doing a double-run, will stop three times, at the southern cluster on the way in, then at the northern cluster where they will turn around, and again at the southern cluster on the way out.
Bus information is less than impressive. There's a poster on each stop that shows all of the stands, and advises which routes serve each stop. But it's not especially eye-catching, and the posters look tired (as in the example below). I admit to being concerned that the posters are dated October 2019.
ABOVE: Taken on Wednesday 17 September 2025
Although I don't spot any actual errors in the posters, they don't inspire confidence as to their currency, and they probably need to be replaced annually, even if nothing has changed.
ABOVE: Wednesday 17 September 2025 finds Stagecoach North East 73157 (NL25 FFW), another Yutong E12, at the north end of Stockton High Street, part-way through a morning journey towards Teesside Park and Middlesbrough. Stockton Parish Church can be made out in the background (left).
Stockton-on-Tees Town Hall is Grade II* listed, and dates back to 1735. The first Town House was built on the site around 1100. A Market Cross, designed by John Shout, was added in 1768.
The town hall ceased to be the local seat of government when the short-lived County Borough of Teesside was formed in 1967. However, its main role as a civic meeting place was restored when Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council was formed in 1974.
ABOVE: Stockton Market Cross can be seen in front of the Town Hall building, as an Arriva bus approaches. Photo taken on Wednesday 17 September 2025.
Nearby, a piazza with a water feature has been installed to the northern end of Stockton High Street.
There's no double-run for us, as the 37 heads out of town to the north. We make a right turn into Allison Street, which, to the left, as it becomes Leeds Street and then Nelson Terrace, provides an effective alternative route to keep traffic out of the High Street.
We move into the suburb of Nelson. A market town in its own right, a chance discovery of human bones by school children in 1982 led to the unearthing of an Anglo-Saxon pagan cemetery. Excavations in 1984 revealed 120 burials, in graves that contained assorted personal items such as spears, belt buckles and brooches. The remains and objects collected suggest the site was dated to around AD 540–610.
At the north end of Norton lies a large village green with a duckpond, surrounded by mostly Georgian houses and cottages.
The ancient parish church of St. Mary the Virgin stands on the west side of the village Green. Norton was established as a place of worship and sanctuary around 1020 AD, and the church was founded around that time. It is the only cruciform Anglo-Saxon church in northern England.
It's around here (probably before the Green) that we diverge from the 36 route, as it continues north-eastwards on its much longer run to Hartlepool.
We continue into more residential parts of Norton, where we lose the 38 as well; it branches off here for a local loop to complete its journey.
Norton merges seamlessly into Roseworth.
ABOVE: About to enter Roseworth, the bus will turn left here from Junction Road, Norton, onto Ragpath Lane.
The Roseworth housing estate was built in the 1960s, and every street name on the estate begins with "R". We have Raunds Avenue, Riverhead Avenue, Rotherham Avenue, Runcorn Avenue and Reigate Close, for example, as well as Rosslare Road, Rudyard Avenue, Rockferry Close and Rockall Avenue.
The bus has been busy all the way from Middlesbrough. It's only now, on this last stretch, that passengers have started to thin out, which gives me the chance to photograph the interior of the Yutong E12.
It just feels horribly cluttered when compared to something like the simple ambience of an Enviro200. My main issue is that the screen for passengers using the wheelchair space blocks the forward view, and surely should be at eye level for users of that space (ie, a lot lower down)...
We pass St Chad's Church. This was built in the 1950s and, although not as striking as some of the churches I feature on these pages, it has a certain modern elegance about it.
We complete our journey across Roseworth:
ABOVE: Still on Ragpath Lane, approaching Ramsbury Avenue in Roseworth
We cross into Hardwick, and reach the University Hospital of North Tees.
ABOVE: The entrance to North Tees Hospital. The bus stop can be picked out in the centre of the picture.
This is the terminus of route 37. We have arrived seven minutes late, at 17:03. The return trip should have left at 17:02, so the bus doesn't hang around.
The bus stop is a simple affair, as can be seen below:
ABOVE: The hospital stop at North Tees. And, in case you're wondering, stops A & B are out on the main road outside the Hospital Grounds.
And that concludes our journey on route 37 - a fascinating ride on what is clearly a vital urban service for people in this part of North East England.
POSTSCRIPT: At the time of my journey, the Yutongs were only a few months old, but what became of the buses that were used on the 36 / 37 / 38 group before the electrics arrived? I find a strong clue a couple of days later as I wait in Hexham, Northumberland, for the 685 bus to Carlisle, which is jointly run by Stagecoach North East and Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire.
The bus that turns up, a North East example, is carrying branding for its former services, which just happen to be the 36 / 37 / 38 group! By this time it has been quite a few months since the Yutongs arrived, so isn't it time to remove the branding - especially the bits on the windows that block the views?
ABOVE: On Saturday 20 September 2025, Stagecoach North East 26288 (SN69 ZHO), an ADL Enviro200 MMC, pulls into Hexham Bus Station on a journey on cross-country route 685 from Newcastle to Carlisle. The bus still carries branding for routes 36, 37 & 38.