Changes to east end bus routes have been predicted ever since plans were unveiled for a new bus interchange in Newcastle West.

That facility, which includes a multi-storey car park, is expected to open around April and will complement Newcastle Interchange, linking buses with the city's light and heavy rail.

There is a school of thought that when it opens some bus routes that currently terminate at Watt Street will be cut back to the interchange.

That would leave bus passengers travelling east of the interchange with little option but to transfer onto light rail to continue their journey.

Three existing Newcastle Transport bus routes - 11, 13 and 14 - terminate outside The Station on Watt Street.

Both the eastbound 11 and 13 pass the new interchange before making about nine stops along Hunter and King streets and could be considered likely to face the chop.

The 14, a Swansea to city service, comes into the east end via Darby and King streets. It would be a harder route to send to the new interchange as it travels via The Junction and Bar Beach.

A fourth service, the 21, travels via Watt Street through Newcastle East, terminating at Parnell Place. It goes via The Hill, Cooks Hill and Merewether and would be unlikely to change barring a mass network overhaul.

"Any potential changes to the Newcastle bus network related to the opening of the new bus interchange are currently in the planning phase," a Transport for NSW spokesperson said.

"Any changes will be communicated to customers before the interchange opens."

The transport agency's comments are the first time it has publicly flagged possible changes to the routes.

They come after the approval of Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation's plans to redevelop the old bus interchange and layover next to The Station.

Transport consultant Ron Brown, who was involved in planning the old bus layover in the 1990s, told the regional planning panel which approved the plans this month that the loss of the site would leave Newcastle with a "second-rate transport system".

He said operators had used a variety of sites since the layover was made off-limits for last year's Newcastle 500.

Coaches operate from Wright Lane, which has no shelter, while regional buses use Hunter Street. Keolis Downer buses still often use the layover, but will be forced onto Watt Street when works commence early next year.

"It is hard to ignore the likelihood that this disregard for bus services is in part designed to diminish competition for the light rail services that have been introduced," Mr Brown said.

"The services that had been accommodated at the bus layover have been fragmented and rendered far less functional."

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