Washington services
A1(M) between J64 and J65
Signposted from the road? Yes (as Greggs/Costa/Burger King)
DH3 2SJ
map and directions
Two sites located between junctions, connected by an internal bridge..
Sharing its name with a world-famous capital city, Washington has an old building squished into a deeply urban area. The southbound site is actually located off the J64 exit sliproad, and traffic leaving the services has to cross this to rejoin the motorway.
Facilities
Catering: Burger King, Costa Coffee, Greggs, Costa Express Shops: WHSmith Amenities: Full Hou$e, Games Arcade, Showers, Randox Health Covid-19 Test Dropbox : Travelodge Template:Charging points Forecourt: BP, Shop, Costa Express, Air1 AdBlue
Parking Prices
First 2 hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £15 and HGVs, caravans and motorhomes £24.50. HGVs can pay £26.50 to include a £10 food voucher.
Prices are paid using PayByPhone. The location code is 2474 (northbound) and 2475 (southbound).
The fees are strictly enforced by CP Plus.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Moto
Washington Motorway Services Area
A1 M
Birtley
Chester-le-Street
Tyne and Wear
DH3 2SJ
- 🌍 Official Moto/Washington Northbound Website
- Official Moto/Washington Southbound Website
- Foursquare Page
- 📞 Telephone number: 0191 4103436
Trivia and History
See also: History:Washington
The Highways Agency had listed Washington as an "approved truckstop", something which surprisingly few service areas are. Previously the Highways Agency's approved truckstop was the Nightowl Truckstops site at the rear of the services which was accessed from the local road network.
Until 2015 Moto were still manually updating the signs on the motorway with the current price of fuel, using patches. All other services in Britain stopped doing this at least 10 years earlier, but on several occasions Washington had been trying to compete with local garages.
An unusual sign on the southbound carriageway tells people looking for the northbound services to stop and use the footbridge. No other service area has this pointed out. Meanwhile, when rejoining the southbound carriageway, there is no sign to mark the start of motorway regulations, and it appears to have been missing for 15 years, if not much longer.
On Thursday 4 June 2020, the southbound Greggs store here was the first Greggs store in the UK to reopen following their decision to close all their stores in March 2020 due to coronavirus-related safety concerns. As part of this reopening, Moto added a new Greggs kiosk to the northbound side.
Northern Powergrid is planning to increase the electricity capacity at Washington, to allow it to potentially become a charging hub in the future.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Durham (11 miles) | Services on the A1(M) | Seaton Burn (A1, 16 miles) |
| Scotch Corner (34 miles) Barton Park Truckstop (32 miles) | Moto services | none nearby |
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