Monday 5th -Sunday 11th March 2012 ~

Thanks to all those of you who continue to provide info for the blog, particularly Bruce, as I see very few daytime X1 services now. Things have really quietened down compared to a couple of years ago, so I guess I will probably continue with weekly updates unless anything spectacular happens.
Looking back at this week, the following worked Monday - Saturday without coming off diagram which is impressive : 37563/71/75/77, 37157/58/60. In addition 37575 worked today (Sunday) too.

Monday 5th March

37156 had its MOT this morning and once completed, was sent out from King's Lynn on K15 replacing 37570 which itself was required for an MOT. The next service westbound also changed buses, K16 arrived with 37573 and left at 13.15 with 37159. A couple of hours later 37579 was taken off K1 and 37573 was able to work forward. Portland Street in Lynn was closed today, so buses were leaving via Austin Street

Tuesday 6th March

Today's three buses spare - if you can call it that - were 37570 MOT, 37572 safety service and 37566 fuel fault. 37567 started out on K15, but tonight was in Vancouver Avenue. 37572 had replaced it at 15.32 but only reached Dereham where it failed being unable to restart. Earlier Des had been chauffeur on 567 when it had to drop off a poorly passenger at Gorleston JPH, this meant a 15 minute late departure, all of which had been made up by departure from Lynn at 12.45.

Wednesday 7th March

37156 photographed at a rather damp Market Gates this morning. Thanks to Grahame Bessey for the picture.

37564 had a peculiar day - it started on K2 but came off at 08.57 with an adblue fault  and then after a break took Y6 11.02 Lynn to Lowestoft instead of 37578. Later 37578 was back out on K19 taking over from 37565 at 14.45. 37566 was repaired today and took over K2 from 37564 this morning.
37156 might look good, but apparently today it had no newspapers and no interior heating either.
Rather worryingly there are plans for the X1 to call at all stops in Dereham and Toftwood from next month. There are currently four stops in both directions. This will increase to 18 westbound and 13 eastbound which sounds like a bit of a disaster for punctuality.

Thursday 8th March

37564 in the Fens near Walsoken on L12 12.35 Peterborough - Lowestoft today.

Y7 had 37572 swapped for 37568 at lunchtime and later 37572 was out again after 37567 had a broken window on K4. 37570 had its MOT today and the opportunity was taken at 17.45 to pop it onto Y6 so that 37579 could be released for servicing.
Des writes, "37157 on L10 13.07 Southgates to Yarmouth - we should have refuelled at Vancouver Avenue but the entrance was blocked by a cement lorry, so refuelling was done at Lowestoft instead. Ten late from Lynn, but on time by Dereham. Caught up with 37576 on Y9 at Yarmouth at 15.30, so I took his Gorleston and Hopton passengers and he went direct to Lowestoft Tesco to make up time".

Thanks to Richard Alger for sending this picture of 37156 this morning with a rather serious looking X1 driver !!

Friday 9th March

Things were going well for a Friday today until an accident between Wisbech and Guyhirn caused disruption. K17, K18 & K19 were the services worst affected and there were vehicle swaps as a result. 37572 which came in to King's Lynn on Y7, the early finisher at 18.15 was then sent out to relieve 37159 which was in trouble at Little Fransham with a charging fault. I think 37572 then came back to Lynn on K19 instead of 37564. Malcolm saw 30889 on the X2 today, a recent reallocation from Yarmouth with 32211 going the other way. Syd says the other remaining President, 32210 is due to go to Yarmouth also in exchange for 30886 and 30887 will also go to Lowestoft with Palatine 34158 departing.

Work inside King's Lynn garage is almost complete, but only one set of doors are available at the moment, hence the unusual parking of these B9s sideways on to the pits. 37577 is the only X1 vehicle retaining the Safehouse ad.

Saturday 10th March

Only one swap today, Y6 having 37573 taken off for 37565 forward. Timekeeping seemed fair and i passed ultra white 37156 on time on L12 heading east this afternoon.

Sunday 11th March

A quiet day although a Norwich City home match will probably have caused delays at teatime. 37566/7/8, 37570/2/4/5/6/8/9 were today's buses. Rather strangely Malcolm reports 37565 was spare in Lowestoft bus station all day.
Des draws my attention to the Haven Bridge night closure which is due to last another month.

37570 in perfect conditions in Great Yarmouth today. Thanks to Des for the photo.

Week Ending March 4th 2012 ~ Making Up Time

Monday 27th February
Firstly an update on Sunday 25th and Des reports delays due to the football traffic in Norwich. 37574 on 15.30 ex Yarmouth was 10 late from Norwich, but 25 late by Easton due to the congestion. the service was 21 late into Lynn and 16 late departing on the 17.50 to Peterborough.

Today was an uneventful day with no swaps. 37158, 37569 and 37156 out of service today at Lynn for servicing / noisy axle / MOT. Some buses fitted with new ads for the film 'Contraband' tonight.

Des writes 'Today I had 37160 on L11 16.55 ex Lowestoft. We were on time until a road closure in Gorleston making us 5 late at the library, but on time by Yarmouth. Coming back from Lynn I was driving 37568 on L8 21.35 Lynn - Lowestoft. On time until the A47 closed at Longwater for roadworks. Came into Norwich via Dereham Road and Grapes Hill - thought I'd better then check the Newmarket Road stop as I was the last bus eastbound. 5 minutes late at Norwich bus station. At Yarmouth, Haven Bridge closed so diversion via Yarmouth/Gorleston bypass making us 8 late arriving at Gorleston JPH".

Tuesday 28th February
A second successive day without incident. 37156 & 37569 still off the road but 37158 back freshly serviced and  37159 off today for same. Malcolm aw X2 vehicle 32655 operating a 101 town service in Lowestoft today.

Wednesday 29th February
K5 had 37576 swapped for 37160 for the 10.32 Lynn - Lowestoft. 37578 was off the road for compressor attention, but 37569 was back on K4.
Major delays caused by the closure of the Acle Straight this afternoon saw 37571 on Y6 depart King's Lynn almost 40 late on the 17.45 to Peterborough. A spirited run saw it back in Wisbech at 20.11 (16 late) and departing at 20.12 (12 late). It was on time at the Southgates at 20.40 heading east. Over at Lowestoft Y9 with 37158 arrived 25 late having been diverted via Filby and then departed 16 late on the 15.55 to King's Lynn. 37579 on L10 arrived in Lowestoft 45 late and then went light to Norwich to resume its duty at 18.05. 37567 on L11 arrived into Lowestoft -40 and departed 30 down at 17.25, the same time as the 17.25 X1 short to Yarmouth. The last bus to Yarmouth had departed at 16.10 ! Lynn arrival on L11 was 11 late at 20.10.
37572 became the first X1 Gemini to break the 400,000 mile barrier today. It passed the milestone at around 20.20 tonight between Eye and Thorney on L8.

Thursday 1st March
37565/578 spare at Lynn today receiving attention. 37156 is due for MOT on Monday. No swaps today and it all seems to be going like clockwork ! The Mad March Fares promotion is now available from stops in Dereham, Toftwood, Hockering and Easton :

Friday 2nd March
Delays were worse today, so nothing unusual there. 37572 was seen 10 late on K4 this morning, while L11 was 15 down with 37568. I saw Y13 13.05 ex Peterborough which was 37566 12 late departing Wisbech.

Saturday 3rd March

37158 heads east through Walpole Highway on K1, the 08.00 Wisbech - Lowestoft this morning.

Nice to report a normal week at last. Every day this week K2 has done the following day's L8 which on Wed/Thu/Fri has then worked Y13. 37566/570 got a day off today so that they could be positioned for servicing on Monday.

37569 heads for Peterborough running about 12 late on K16 13.15 from King's Lynn today.

Sunday 4th March

Both 37159 and 37568 were kept at King's Lynn today with windscreen defects and this evening 37573 was taken out of service with some minor damage at the rear, it was replaced by 37160.
37570 is due an MOT this week, but it looks as if both it and 37566 which is due to be serviced will need to be used tomorrow morning. Assuming the usual pass, the situation should be relieved when 37156 returns from MOT tomorrow morning. This bus has not been fitted with adverts since it returned from repairs and may be out in 'all white' tomorrow.

Week Ending Sunday 26th February 2012 ~ It's All Happening

A little bit more to report this week, with the X1 fleet getting back up to full strength .............

Monday 20th February 2012

Yet another road closure in Wisbech occurred today, with temporary lights opposite St. Augustines Church causing delays to the X1. There seem to be regular problems here due to collapsing sewers on the busy Lynn Road.
Spare bus today was 37159 and L11 did a maintenance swap with 37157 being replaced by 37566 at 10.45 in King's Lynn. 37572 had problems early on with an oil pressure switch fault. Fitters were sent to Wisbech to sort it out and eventually it was able to continue on K3. It was still running 18 late when it passed Bruce eastbound at 09.23.
An interesting working in Lowestoft seen by Malcolm was 32210 arriving on the 13.40 X2 service from Norwich and then working the 15.10 Service no. 1 to Martham. 32211 which had come in from Martham then worked the 15.03 X2 to Norwich. Whether this is a regular occurrence or merely for operational convenience today is not known.

Here is the official X1 route map as shown in the latest timetable

Tuesday February 21st

The delays in Wisbech were severe today. Jamie took L11 with 37578 from Walpole Highway westbound and was diverted just before the Locomotive pub via Lerowe Road, Kirkgate Street and Norwich Road to gain Churchill Road. This involves negotiating numerous speed humps, but which seemed preferable to being stuck on the usual route. 

Early on buses were running on average 10 late eastbound past Bruce, but Y9 with 37577 was 23 late going to Peterborough and 24 late returning. Des says, "37577 was 30 late into Yarmouth at 15.25, then 25 late arriving at Lowestoft before departing westbound again at 16.08 (13 late)". 

36180 remains in use and today did its favourite turn again, K15. 37566 had a nox fault while working K1, so it was replaced by freshly serviced 37567 for the 15.15 to Peterborough. 37567 had already been used earlier when it did the first stage of K5 to Peterborough before being replaced by 37157 for the 10.32 to Lowestoft. 37576 arrived back at King's Lynn following accident damage repairs today.

32210 & 32211 did an identical move to yesterday involving the X2 and Service 1 reports Malcolm.

Wednesday February 22nd

Services from the east are due to pass the King's Lynn Southgates inbound at 02 and 32 minutes past the hour. A survey today saw the following

Y9 37563 09.38 -6

L10 37160 10.05 -2

L11 37158 10.44 -12

L12 37565 11.04 -2

Y13 37574 11.37 -5

K14 37578 12.01 +1

K15 37569 12.34 -2

K16 37571 13.07 -5

K17 37579 13.32 RT

K18 37157 14.02 RT

K19 37577 14.32 RT

K1 37564 15.03 -1

K2 37575 15.33 -1

All in all, not a bad day for punctuality and the Wisbech Lynn Road lights were removed too. Two eastbound changes of vehicle occurred with Y9 12.32 to Lowestoft leaving with 37566 having replaced 37563 for some reason then a similar thing happened at 14.32 with Y13 changing 37574 for 37573, though this was a scheduled maintenance swap. . For the record, the services not listed above had : K3 36180, K4 37572, K5 37568, Y6 37567 and L8 37570. 37576 did not re-enter service today as it required a safety service before use.

Thursday 23rd February

Today was quite Spring like with the temperatures in the high teens. 37573 is seen passing Walton Highway on K17 13.45 King's Lynn to Peterborough.

Signs of change today. 36180 was washed and cleaned before departing for Norwich empty at 10.10, its loan spell having finished. It has to be said that it was sent back in much cleaner condition than when it arrived !

37576 returned to traffic working K4, while 37568 had some compressor work carried out at Vancouver Avenue and 37577 was also spare here for servicing. Everything on the X1 seemed to behave with no known swaps for a change. There were some morning delays, but by this afternoon things had settled down. K3 with 37569 was seen passing the Southgates inbound at 09.31 (about 12 late) but thanks to a smart turn round, was back out again on the 09.32 ex bus station to Lowestoft at 09.43 (only 6 late). Malcolm saw 32652 arriving in Lowestoft 18 late on the 08.40 X2 from Norwich and it then departed 15 late on the 10.08 return. 

Friday 24th February

King's Lynn garage boss Richard Tucker kindly sent in this picture of the 'new' 37156 for us. Yes I did manage to download it from my mobile this time !

No doubt about the big news today. 37156 returned to King's Lynn this afternoon following completion of its accident repairs sustained last November. It has been completely repainted in Excel livery like the B9s, so is looking very smart. It will  not be back in service for about a further week though, as it needs to undergo an MOT.

The return of 37156 brings the X1 fleet back to full strength. Today there was a single bus swap when 37573 was unable to restart at Wisbech at 09.00 on K3 and it was changed for 37579 for the 09.32 Lynn to Lowestoft. Timekeeping was pretty good considering today was a Friday.

37157 on K18 this afternoon being chased by the Norfolk Green 46 at Walpole Highway.

Saturday 25th February

Well well well. You only have to mention the words X1 fleet back to full strength and what happens ? Yes a coach comes out ! Not that the operators can be too unhappy I would have thought, after all running 124 turns this week and only one not being a Gemini must be considered a success.

L12 was the turn covered by 20115 today after 37567 was unable to perform. This is quite a convenient turn when a coach has to be used as the Saturday diagram for L12 covers 07.55 Lowestoft - Peterborough, 12.35 return and then the 17.25 Lowestoft - Yarmouth. This was the first time a coach has penetrated west of King's Lynn on an X1 since December 6th.

20115 on L12 today, Bruce looks like he is taking a photo of the back of 37570 which is going the other way on L8 !

There were other incidents today too when 37568 on K14 was taken out of service after it lost a mirror. It was seen arriving at the Southgates at 12.31 (29 late) 'not in service', but quick emergency repairs saw it continue on the delayed 12.15 to Peterborough which was back through the Southgates at 12.42 (20 late) and noted passing Bruce at 12.57 (23 late).

This evening Jamie says L10 (37574) was almost forced off the road at the Boongate exit to the A1139 while working the 21.10 ex Peterborough. The bus was able to continue after the scare.

Sunday February 26th


Another all B9 worked Sunday with no incidents reported. Many of the B9s retain the nearside adverts for 'Celebrity Big Brother' which have been in situ since the New Year and the remainder have no adverts revealing the route branding. Here are some recent offside campaigns :

37574 about to lose its ad for the movie 'This Means War' in favour of one for Milk.

.... and here is 37566 with the new milk advert

Finally 37570 photographed this evening with another movie advert 'Safehouse'.

Week Ending Sunday 19th February 2012 ~ The Big Blog

Well not such a big blog really ! There has been little of note to report, so this report is quite brief. Continuing resurfacing work both inside and outside King's Lynn garage has led to some unorthodox overnight parking of vehicles. The work is expected to last another week. It has been a desperate week for drivers at Lynn, with holidays, illness and paternity leave meaning that supervisors have had to stand in when required. The week passed with both 37576 and 37156 still out of traffic at Full Circle receiving accident repairs.

Monday 13th February

On the X2 route, Malcolm saw 32651 & 32656 in service while the standby Palatines 34155/7/8 were all at Gasworks Road garage. Only change on the X1 was 36180 being swapped for 37564 at lunchtime.

Tuesday 14th February

Chaos in Great Yarmouth today after Haven Bridge was closed from 12.50 to 16.45 after a lorry fatally hit a pedestrian and a four vehicle pile up on Breydon Bridge at 14.30 added to the congestion. Malcolm reports Y7 with 37157 running 58 minutes late and L8 with 37572 49 late, while the X2 saw 34155 arrive in Lowestoft followed a couple of minutes later by 32562, so clearly some disruption there too. Over here in the west, 37574 on K2 15.45 westbound from Lynn was 24 late at Walpole Highway. K4 and K5 swapped vehicles, beginning the day with 36180 and 37159 and tonight 37563 replaced 37577 on Y6. 37158 spent the day undergoing bodywork repairs after Saturday's minor accident.
Des says "Temporary lights have sprung up in many places this week including a single lane at East Winch caused by a water main burst last week and where there has been a distinct lack of interest since. There are also temporary lights at Tilney and another four way set at Terrington which can take an age to change".

Wednesday 15th February

The same set of vehicles on the X1 as yesterday, with 37565 on Y13 being changed for 37568 and K4 and K15 also being involved in swaps. The X2 had Presidents 32211 on the 12.08 ex Lowestoft and 32210 on the 14.38 departure. 37577 on K4 was on time from Lynn at 10.02 but 9 late departing Lowestoft on the 13.25 to Peterborough seen by Jenny. It was later changed for 37578.

Thursday 16th February

Late running was once again a theme. Des writes "36180 on K15 09.25 Lowestoft - Peterborough, on time till queueing from East Winch church to Middleton. Openreach were laying cables with timed lights. What was normally a 3 minute journey took 24 minutes. I was 19 late into Lynn and 13 late outward to Peterborough. 37160 on K18 14.15 Lynn - Peterborough was the first westbound service to run on time following removal of the Middleton lights".
Bruce reported a series of delayed buses from Peterborough : L11 with 37570 12 late, L12 37569 7 late, Y13 37574 20 late and K14 with 37566 28 late. At the Lowestoft end Malcolm saw Y6 with 37579 15 x 5 late and 37157 arriving 17 late on Y7. Y9 changed 37578 for 37565 at lunchtime.

Friday 17th February

A quieter day with all buses sticking to their turns for a change. 37159 and 37578 were the two spare buses at King's Lynn. The service degenerated this afternoon, Lance was heading east by car and became stuck in  almost 1.5 miles of queueing traffic into Thorney Toll delaying him by 20 minutes and all because someone had parked a self-drive van diagonally blocking one lane of the road. Bruce noted eastbound services as follows : Y13 with 37573 33 late, K14 37564 34 late, K15 36180 20 late, K16 37574 16 late, K17 37570 22 late then a long gap until K18 with 37575 went past at 17.16, 41 minutes late. Later I saw 37563 on Nar Ouse Way working Y6 17.45 Lynn to Peterborough at 18.08, so about 13 late.
X2s seen by Malcolm today included 32211 on the 12.08 and 34156 on the 12.38 departures to Norwich, while arriving in Lowestoft was 32654 on the 11.40 from the city.


Saturday 18th February

Not much of note today. I saw K14 13.35 ex Peterborough 10 late at Walpole with 37572, but K18 coming the other way was at least 20 late so I missed it (37158 apparently).
Peterborough bus station has resumed normal working at last, but Yarmouth's Haven Bridge is now closed at weekends which is unusual.

Sunday 19th February

37563/4/7/8, 37571/2/4/7/8/9 were the ten vehicles involved today with no reported incidents. Thanks to Cheryl, Bruce, Malcolm and Des amongst others for keeping me informed this week.

Wednesday February 8th - Sunday February 12th 2012 ~ Maps Maps Maps !

Another summary of events. My Mum has been in hospital for a month, was released on Friday and I'm now a full time carer until she recovers. Bruce has been great at documenting goings on as usual.

Wednesday February 8th.

As I have frequently mentioned, breakdowns are extremely rare on the X1, so to get two on the same day was very bad fortune. 37569 working K16 was in trouble in Norwich at 08.00 with a burst hose and fitters had to attend. It was Ok to do the return 09.55 ex Lowestoft, but I suspect this started at Norwich. 37569 made a visit into Vancouver Avenue just after departure on the 13.15 King's Lynn to Peterborough just to check that all was now satisfactory. 37575 was the other B9 which was ailing. It managed to reach the Pullover Roundabout beyond the Ouse bridge, but could then proceed at no more than 15mph while on K14 12.15 King's Lynn - Peterborough. The service is believed to have then been cancelled as it was not seen in either direction  by Bruce and then 575 went briefly to V.A. before being despatched to Volvo at Norwich for examination. This was quite a lightning visit and it was back at King's Lynn by 20.00 having in the process become embroiled in some A47 chaos. An accident at Honingham saw the road closed from just before 17.00 bringing long tailbacks and diversions via less than satisfactory roads.

37574 was free off servicing to take K14 15.02 King's Lynn to Lowestoft. Just as well, as this then left nothing spare at all, 37576 being at Full Circle and 37159 stopped for MOT work.
At least the X2 appeared to be functioning normally with Malcolm viewing 32651 departing 12 late on the 14.38 to Norwich and he also saw 32654/5 in action.
Des writes, "The A47 was shut following an accident between Honingham and the Easton roundabout from around 16.50 until 20.30. I must have been very lucky to miss the congestion as with 37579 on Y7 14.55 ex Lowestoft. We were at Easton at 16.43 and Hockering at 16.49. When exiting Hockering village westbound, the bus has to find a path across the A47 while traffic is very busy in both directions. This manouevre can take from eight to ten minutes at times, so I thought it was odd that there was nothing coming westbound out of Norwich on this occasion and also that not a single vehicle overtook me between Hockering and Dereham. Some services were caught up in the queues, but soon as Lynn control were aware, following buses took a diversion via the Watton road. Further east the Service 1 journeys from Yarmouth to Lowestoft were covered by local drivers and some Lynn drivers had their meal breaks in Yarmouth. Incidentally taking 37563 on K4 19.35 Lynn to Lowestoft this evening, I found that it has not been altered to carry the amended destination 'X1 Great Yarmouth for 1 Gorleston' and similar".

Thursday February 9th

No less than nine X1 vehicles were involved in changes of diagram today. This was mainly to fit in servicing requirements and included K17 having 37577 taken off at 13.45 and its replacement being 37159 fresh off a morning MOT. Des says "Driving 37574 on L11 16.55 ex Lowestoft, we were on time until queueing traffic at the Norwich Southern Bypass following an RTA on the A147 Martineau Lane, traffic being single filed along the A146 Barrett Road. I pulled off the bypass, but rejoined the A47 when I saw the queue and proceeded into the City by the A140. I arrived 5 minutes late to find 37564 on L10 just finished loading and departing via the uphill exit where a queue of buses were already waiting at the lights. I left via the bottom exit and St. Stephens Street, noting 37564 leaving the bus station as I entered Newmarket Road. I waited at Easton to tell the driver that we would swap buses and passengers bound for Lynn and beyond. he then took 37574 light to Lynn and I took 37564 via the correct route.

 On arrival at Lynn I discovered two Eastern European ladies upstairs who wanted to travel to Wisbech - they spoke little English and therefore had to wait for L12 20.50 departure. This was 15 late into Lynn. My return run was not without incident, 37563 on L8 21.35 Lynn to Lowestoft was on time until a diversion in Yarmouth where Haven bridge was closed, making us 5 late".

Richard thinks that 37156 may be back towards the end of next week if all goes according to plan. It would seem that 36180 will then return to its normal duties in Norwich, although the accident damage to 37576 may possibly see the visitors stay extended.
A further fall of snow this evening left roads in the west hazardous for a time. The second phase of alterations at Peterborough bus station began today with X1 services now departing from Ackland Street Coach Park (next to The Brewery Tap) until 18.00 and from Queensgate Bay 4 therafter. Inward services will be dropping off at Bay 10.
Today's EDP carried an article marking the agreement between First and the newspaper to give money donated for the EDPs on board the X1 to good causes. Rosemary Parry and Richard Tucker from King's Lynn were seen alongside 37577 :

Cutting courtesy of EDP. http://www.edp24.co.uk/home

Friday February 10th

Two maintenance swaps today involved successive lunchtime departures from King's Lynn to Peterborough. K16 in at 13.07 with 37568 for 37571 forward westbound at 13.15 and then K17 half an hour later with 37569 being replaced by 37567.  Timekeeping was fair for a Friday. Malcolm saw turns 6,7,17 & 18 all roughly on time. Des was involved in an incident while driving 37158 on L11. he says "I had completed my reverse out of Lowestoft  Bay 5 at 16.55, the handbrake was on and I was about to put into forward gear when the Anglian Bus on bay 7 started reversing and reversed into the offside, just behind the front wheel. Particulars were exchanged and I photographed the scene and the damage with my company disposable camera. The damage not being severe, I continued the journey running 10 late throughout".


Saturday February 11th

Why do they do that ? Probably today because the motorist didn't want to freeze ! 37569 comes across a badly parked car at Terrington St John this afternoon while working K1 15.15 Lynn to Peterborough in temperatures of minus 7 '

Excessively low temperatures overnight resulted in the mercury reading -13.6 at Walpole at 06.00 this morning. Even by afternoon, services were battling through still with a very low daytime figure of minus 7'.
37157 which had been about the best X1 bus for warming its passengers, was ironically off the road first thing with .... a heating problem ! Nevertheless K5 which went to Peterborough with 37568 was swapped at 10.32 for a repaired 37157.  Another bus which just worked Lynn - Peterborough and back was 37579 on K1 with 37569 working forward at 0832 to Lowestoft. I was very impressed that services ran almost faultlessly on such a freezing day.

Sunday February 12th

The wintry scene at Gasworks Road, Lowestoft captured for us by Richard Alger today.

37567 makes its get away from Lowestoft on time at 09.48. All washers were (not surprisingly) completely frozen up today. Photo : R. Alger

Unusually Yarmouth despatched 37160 on Y7 this morning, this is the first westbound service at 07.30 from the resort. Not sure why 37565 wasn't used as expected, but with very low overnight temperatures in the region of minus 10' this time, may be the good heating on 37160 was considered preferable. This evening 37160 was seen on Nar Ouse Way running 20 late as the 19.50 King's Lynn to Peterborough, it having had to visit Vancouver Avenue for a fuel top up.

Saturday February 4th - Tuesday February 7th 2012 ~ Colder & Colder

Saturday 4th February

Wintry weather has so far not been an issue this year, but this evening it began snowing at the west end of the route around 18.30. Conditions rapidly worsened as the snow fell and by 23.00 driving was very difficult. Y6 19.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft with 37577 was seen battling against the blizzard at Tilney this evening running about 13 minutes late. K15 had 37574 which was in trouble again with its recurring Adblue problem and arrangements were already in hand at 20.00 for the 21.50 King's Lynn to Peterborough to be 37572 in its place. Servicing and repairs to 37571 continued at King's Lynn today and 37159 was stopped for its MOT prep. It is confirmed that 37576 has joined the other accident victim 37156 at the Full Circle workshops. 36180 was used on K17 today.

Sunday 5th February

The region woke up this morning to up to 6 inches of snowfall. Drifting had occurred in places and the routes through Toftwood and Narborough were particularly difficult to negotiate. Nevertheless, the X1 seemed to continue in almost normal fashion with all services seen being pretty close to time. We do have some pictures from today from Des and myself :

Brrrrrrrr........ 37573 awaits departure from Caister Road garage

Just to prove it really was cold !

As Des puts it "Two old ladies I saw in Lowestoft".

37573 at the Southgates changeover stop.

Piles of snow at Walpole being passed by 37577 on the 09.48 from Lowestoft, running within a couple of minutes of time.

37573 returns eastbound through Walpole Highway just 8 minutes late. 

Monday 6th February

Surprisingly temperatures remained slightly above freezing overnight, so a slight thaw of lying snow continued today. At some point 37564 & 37157 swapped turns on L10 & L11 today, this meant 37157 ending up on L10 and it had to be refuelled to cover the additional mileage. In the morning, Bruce didn't see 37157 in either direction, so whether it worked through to Peterborough is debatable. The afternoon saw King's Lynn a driver short to take Y13 14.32 to Lowestoft. Instead, 37158 was garaged and a Yarmouth driver sent out to Swaffham with 20115 to resume the turn there at 15.04 to Lowestoft. Thanks to Julian for the sighting. The coach returned on Y13 as far as Norwich, but the service was cancelled here and 37564 was used to work the 21.50 King's Lynn to Peterborough, leaving the Norwich to Lynn section as 'lost mileage'. 37571 was used on a test run this morning and 37574 on K5 was still having adblue problems. 37578 on L12 11.15 Lynn to Peterborough also required a visit to Vancouver Avenue before proceeding westbound. Malcolm reports 36180 leaving Lowestoft 10 late on Y7 this afternoon.

Tuesday 7th February

The cold snap intensified this evening and by 20.00 the temperature was already minus 5'c, however this was shortlived and through the night it stabilised at around freezing point. At least everything behaved on the X1 with the only spare bus, 37574 having its problems diagnosed, a nox sender fault being the technical term. Many services ran around 10 minutes late this morning including L8 which unusually had B7 37160. 37578 was seen 8 late on K2 07.35 ex Peterborough with a bold new advert proclaiming 'This Means War' - a new film and nothing to do with Konectbus !

Tuesday 31st January - Friday February 3rd 2012 ~ Well Run

An accident, a coach and a few Gemini problems. It's been a reasonably eventful week, but those in charge coped admirably.

Tuesday January 31st

37577 was kept off the road with its interlock switch needing attention. It was out this evening though after 37574 came limping through the Southgates about 10 minutes late on Y6 19.10 from Peterborough. 574 had an adblue fault so it retired to the garage. 37563 and 37159 had safety services and were then spare. Timekeeping was good today.

Wednesday February 1st

After yesterday's problem, 37574 was investigated at King's Lynn today. 37575 joined it off the road as this one has had been cutting out intermittantly. K17 was in trouble today when 37576 was in a collision involving a lorry in Great Yarmouth. The bus was taken out of traffic and K17 continued with coach 20126 as the 10.25 from Lowestoft, believed to have started at Yarmouth. At King's Lynn it was hastily removed and replaced by 37563. The coach then went back light to the Norfolk Showground at Costessey where it swapped drivers with 37576 which was then driven back to Lynn for examination.
Two Presidents were noted on the X2 by Malcolm, 32210 was working the 13.40 from Norwich and earlier 32211 was on the 09.40 from the city.

Thursday February 2nd

There was no sign of 37576 at Lynn today, so I am assuming it may have gone away for repairs to its accident damage. Remedial work to 37575 continued and amongst other work, it had its tank flushed out. 37565 had a service and some outstanding repair work completed today. Fortunately all the other Geminis behaved and punctuality was good.

Friday February 3rd

The work on 37575 appeared to have been completed this evening, but still no sign of 37576. K17 changed 37571 for 37565 at some point today. 36180 did K15 every day this week apart from Wednesday when it did K5 after servicing. 40 copies of the EDP are being issued to morning buses apart from 36180 which does not have the necessary holder fitted.

Wednesday 25th January - Monday 30th January 2012 ~ Bruce's Blog

Wednesday saw 37571 out on the Wisbech bypass / Elm High Road diversion . Photo : Rob Brooks.

Well as you have probably read, this blog is now relying more on you the readers for a few months, with me seeing very few X1 services. Thanks very much to Bruce who has worked very hard to give a complete report of each day so far. I have been further handicapped by a bout of the dreaded norovirus, which I picked up in hospital while visiting my Mum ! Anyway read on for the latest happenings - not that there is a great deal to get excited about !
Wednesday 25th : Reliability of the Geminis is exceptional and it was quite unusual today to find 37578 having a problem with its disabled ramp, it was working L11 and sat at Walpole Highway (due 13.06) from 13.10 until 13.26 while the fault was cured. A few services got behind schedule today and Bruce saw 37574 on K3 running 15 late and 37160 16 late on L10, both heading east at 09.20 and 12.52. The latter was changed at Lynn for 37573. There was also a swap later on K18 and 37159 came off for 37160 forward.

37157 comes off Elme Hall Roundabout and on to the Wisbech Bypass on 25th January. Thanks to Rob Brooks for the picture.

Thursday 26th : Bruce managed to view everything and only 37568, 37575 and 37158 were absent, the latter on MOT. No sign of 37156 returning to traffic yet, although Tony says the court case for the offending car driver is coming up soon.

Friday 27th : Michael Bryant reports three Palatines in use on the X2 today, 34155/6/8. One of those surreal moments for Bruce today when 37567 went eastbound on L8 at 11.35, only to reappear westbound on K19 at 15.04 ! 37158 had its MOT today and looks to have relieved 37572 on K1 after the B9 suffered a windscreen crack. What started out on K19 is a mystery and we don't get many of those these days.
Des says, thought you'd like to see the latest fitting to 37574. No newspapers as yet though.

Saturday 28th : 37572 & 37577 were both requiring new windows this morning, so were kept in along with 37569.  K17 had 36180 - the loanee had spent all week on K15, but today that turn had 37570. 37157 was in the garage with a puncture tonight, so it may not have completed L11. I have a suspicion that 37569 may have replaced it at lunchtime.

Sunday 29th : Feeling a bit better today, but still confined to the house. My lethargy was relieved by tuning in to the Southgates webcam at 40 minutes past the hour. Incoming services from the coast were on time except for a blip at lunchtime. L10 rolled up with 37578 at 12.56 (16 late) and K1 with 37576 at 13.45 (5 late). At both these times, traffic was exceptionally heavy and it was more like a weekday at 17.00.

The Iron Lady herself would probably be impressed that she is having such a long reign on the sides of our buses ! 36180 under gloomy skies on the Wisbech diversion. Photo : Rob Brooks

Monday 30th : Punctuality was pretty poor today. Bruce kept note of workings from King's Lynn westbound and almost all were 6 minutes late due to the Southgates driver change.  Exceptions were L8 with 37575 8 late, L10 with 37567 13 late and K15 with 36180 8 late (see below). Unusual was 37157 on K18 which bucked the trend by being just 3 minutes down. Earlier 37572 on K4 had passed through to Peterborough at 07.42 (8 late) returning at 09.49 (14 late). This evening it was just 2 late at 19.12 when dropping Mr. Robinson off : "Another bus with no heat" he said. The delays seemed to filter through to the eastern end too, Malcolm reports 36180 on K15 09.25 ex Lowestoft having a 25 minute late start and on the X2 32655 arrived 22 late on the 08.40 ex Norwich meaning it was already 16 late leaving on the 10.08 return.
Des says "I travelled on the 06.10 ex Yarmouth this morning which was 37568. There were about 15 copies of the EDP West Norfolk & Fens edition available to passengers".

Saturday 21st January - Tuesday 24th January 2012 ~ Bye Bye Buses

36180 out in the Fens. Photo : Rob Brooks

Saturday 21st January

I was not expecting to see any X1s from my window today, but the service had not completely transferred to the A1101 and I saw L8 with 37569 at 09.54 (4 late), Y10 with 37565 at 10.51 and finally this afternoon 37575 on K18 at 14.54 (also 4 late). These were all westbound services and none of them were seen returning. Ironically, the Weasenham Lane temporary lights were not in operation today. Just one swap today when 36180 on K3 was changed for 37159, believed to have been at 10.00 this morning. 37571 was spare bus at Lynn and 37158 was also undergoing attention as it is being prepared for MOT this coming week. 32651/4/5 were all viewed on X2s by Malcolm. Thanks to Graham Latimer for supplying a full list of Friday's workings

Sunday 22nd January

The usual B9 worked service. 37577 on the 14.00 Wisbech to Lowestoft for some reason departed almost five late despite having arrived in good time. X1 vehicles have had notices affixed explaining that the Wisbech Weasenham Lane stops are being omitted until further notice.

Monday 23rd January

Nene Quay in Wisbech was closed to eastbound traffic at 09.25 this morning. It remains open for westbound traffic. The temporary lights at Weasenham Lane appear to be a precursor to permanent traffic lights being installed at this location. Bruce was 'on duty' today and copped the whole 19 turns.
Services ran pretty near to time with only 37157 on K3 and 37159 on K18 being seen around 10 minutes behind schedule. a problem with 37575 saw it taken off K4 and replaced by 37566. Another swap saw L8 worked by three different B9s, initially 37563, this was replaced by 37571 for the 09.15 Lynn to Peterborough. Later 37578 took the 21.35 to Lowestoft driven by Des. he says "I was on ttime until Norwich then 2 minutes late from Acle with the Acle Straight closed. After the diversion I was eleven late to our destination, Gorleston JPH".
At Lowestoft, Malcolm writes " I don't know what was going on with the X2 this morning as 32651 and 32656 came in together about 10.30 with the latter departing not in service a few minutes later. 32651 did the 10.38 to Norwich and then it was a case of deja vu with 32654 & 32652 both arriving close together and 32654 then did the 11.08 departure".

Tuesday 24th January

New adverts for 'Chunky Kit Kat' are proving very persuasive - well at least with me, I keep wanting to go and buy one ! Perhaps just as well the buses are no longer passing my window. One bus which evaded the new ads was 37578 still advertising 'Puss In Boots' and seen 10 late on Y6 this morning. 37575 was tried on K4 again for the second day running but was taken out of traffic and is now awaiting injector sleeves. 37563 off repairs was its replacement. K5 began with 37572 but it needed a safety service, so the 10.32 to Lowestoft was worked by 37157 which had just received the same treatment. 572 was out again later though as K14's 37567 was also due for servicing and this came off at 15.00 as it had an oil sensor fault anyway. Y9 with 37566 was 15 late past Bruce on the 09.45 Lynn - Peterborough this morning. but strangely spot on time going back east.

Friday 20th January 2012 ~ What Buses ?

Something odd happened today. I saw 37566 departing Wisbech a few minutes late on the 08.48 to Peterborough (Y6), it negotiated the Horsefair Roundabout and left via the A1101 Churchill Road. This was a bit surprising as Nene Quay was traversable in both directions. It then transpired that Mrs. P had decreed that all X1s should take this route both in and out of Wisbech to avoid the temporary lights at Weasenham Lane. This was all the more unusual as delays have been pretty minimal up to now. It will be interesting to see if any X1s escape and use the usual route over the next few weeks.
Nene Quay will be closed to eastbound traffic from this coming Monday until 29th June. It is possible to use the normal route as far as Wisbech town bridge and then turn left, but few drivers have attempted this in the past. Westbound, Nene Quay remains open until 23rd February.
So today I saw the 308 Great Yarmouth to Birmingham and several school buses along with a Holmeswood tourer but that was all.
On the X1, 37563 returned to traffic taking over K5 from 37572 at 10.32 to Lowestoft. 37572 was then seen in the garage by Bruce before it took to the road again at 12.45 replacing 36180 on K15. 37571 on K16 was taken off for servicing and 37160 which had suffered a cracked windscreen took over after repair at 13.15.
The map below shows Nene Quay highlighted and the alternative route via Old Market and North Street, which if used would mean the Weasenham Lane stop could still be served.

Monday 16th - Thursday 19th January 2012 ~ Last Week of Work Buses

Wisbech seems to be swimming in roadworks at the moment and it is set to get worse. Temporary three way lights at Weasenham Lane, the same on Leverington Road and next week the final phase of the flood barrier scheme is being started meaning that Nene Quay will be unavailable for buses coming in from Peterborough and from my point of view mean my sightings will be considerably restricted,
Des says "A glut of roadworks at the moment : Peterborough Bus Station affected from January 16th for 35 days. The west side is currently closed and many buses are using the adjacent bus park for passengers to alight and load. X1 is using Bay 16 to alight and Bay 17 to load. Bus park traffic flow has reversed : enter via The Brewery Tap and exit into Bright Street so heavy traffic on Bourges Boulevard. the Wisbech Weasenham Lane lights are in operation from January 9th for 12 weeks and in addition the Acle straight has night closures from 20.00 to 06.00 from 16th January for nine nights.
Konect Service 8 has changed pick up bays in Norwich bus station. It now loads from Bay 1 towards Dereham and is always sitting there as we pull in to the bay for westbound services",
The X1 service seems to have been running fairly smoothly and completely Gemini operated. Here are a few notes from this week :
Monday 16th : Marion & John were waiting for L10 this morning at Wisbech, due off to Peterborough at 10.48. It didn't appear and instead a string of Lowestoft bound buses passed through before 37160 turned up on L11. This didn't deter them from enjoying an X1 day out though, after Peterborough they travelled through to Lynn for a wander before returning on K3 with 37159.
This afternoon I went to visit my Mum who is in hospital, I expected to pass K17 neat Terrington and it duly appeared about 4 minutes late at Tilney :

Now knowing 37568's unfortunate reputation for late running, I should have been suspicious and lo and behold it turned out to be K16 running 34 late !
I saw the real K17 on my way home which was 37563 driven by Mr. Speed which I passed on Nar Ouse way. Buses spare at King's Lynn today were 37158, 37564 & 37565.
Malcolm had to travel to Norwich and seen on the X2 were 32651/5/6 as well as President 32210

Tuesday 17th : An accident in Peterborough near Boongate caused a few delays this morning. 37573 on K4 08.35 from Peterborough ran into Wisbech 20 late, but this was the only service badly affected. All other services seen were less than 10 minutes late. K1 had 37570 swapped for 37565 at some point. 37563 and 37159 had a day off. Later yet another accident at Boongate caused delay to Des driving 37579 on K16 14.35 ex Peterborough, this was 12 late into Wisbech.

Wednesday 18th : Most buses were not on the road for long today before they gained an unsightly coating of grime. Early delays saw k2 with 37578 10 late and 37570 on K4 14 late. After this things settled down with K16 and 37157 12 late being the worst delayed. 37563 and 36180 were stopped for servicing today and tonight K2 swapped 37578 for 37160 which took the 18.35 Lynn - Lowestoft.

Thursday 19th : 37563 is having some panels repainted, so had another day off today. Timekeeping was good today with both the 11.18 & 11.48 Wisbech to Peterborough passing me slightly early.
L11 with 37565 had this taken off for 37576 at 13.32 and similarly K15 with 36180 changed for 37575 at 15.32. Malcolm saw 34156 getting a run out on the 11.38 X2.

Thursday 12th - Sunday 15th January 2012 ~ Fair Fares

One thing I didn't mention in the blog was the recent fare increases. Cheryl's return from Wisbech to Thorney has gone up by 30p for example. Nevertheless, the X1 still provides good value for money and (to me at least) seems far cheaper than taking the car. I sometimes wonder if many of the people who complain about public transport costs have ever tried owning a car - a sobering experience I can tell you, with the high cost of fuel, as well as tax and servicing, oh and not forgetting the MOT and tyres,then there are parking fees,  hang on - I think I'll stick to the bus where I can !
It's been a rather quiet few days on the X1 it would seem, so nothing unusual to report. Thursday saw 37572 doing odd things. It did L8 to Lynn coming off at 09.08 and then went for servicing before taking over K16 13.15 to Peterborough. 37567 took L8 forward and I'm pretty certain it was 37568 which came off K16, again all to do with maintenance requirements. 37574 remained in Lynn garage today.
Friday was a little hit and miss with timekeeping, but nothing seemed to run too out of course. 37157 had its MOT carried out after having had some panels repainted, 37569 & 37577 were the other two buses not used. It may have been Friday 13th, but Grahame Bessey managed to get some good shots while out in Dereham today

36180 still standing in for 37156 and working K15 as usual, ready to depart Dereham at 11.35 for Peterborough. GB

Taken from the top of a Konect Enviro, 37159 and 37576 are seen at Dereham on the 13.05 and 13.07 departures for Peterborough and Lowestoft (K18 and L8). GB

37568 in the Dereham sunshine prior to departing as the 11.37 to Lowestoft (Grahame Bessey)

About a month ago we featured a picture of 37579 still with its narrow font destination. Here it is today with the standard large lettering ready to leave Dereham at 12.35 westbound. GB

Saturday saw 36180 have a change from working K15 which it had done from Tuesday to Friday, instead it was on K17 running around 10 late when seen this afternoon. 37157 was back on the road on K5 and this left 37569, 37578 & 37579 all spare at Lynn. 37578 had been stopped due to a cracked windscreen.
On Sunday everything seen was pretty near to time, the service was all B9s and 36180 at last had a day off. Our man at Yarmouth garage says Yarmouth trainer 20109 needs some work doing on it and it will be out of service until April, meanwhile 20115 & 20126 continue to perform ably and are still classed as X1 spares.
Thanks also to Bruce, Malcolm and Matthew for all their recent reports.

Saturday 7th - Wednesday 11th January 2012 ~ Five In One

A very uneventful five days have passed with the main X1 service entirely Gemini operated. 36180 has been standing in for the accident damaged 37156 for a while now and this week 37157 has been stopped for MOT prep work.
On Saturday and Sunday the service managed to run without any swaps, although 36180 'escaped' from Lynn on Sunday, working K5 which until now on Sundays had terminated at Yarmouth, however, as it came out of Lowestoft on L12 on Monday, it looks as if K5 now finishes there. 37578 on Sunday's Y7 did the opposite and it came out on Monday's Y9 from Yarmouth instead of appearing from Lowestoft.

Punctuality on Monday was quite good and only 37569 on K2 16.18 Wisbech to Peterborough was notably adrift leaving 14 minutes late. 37571/7 were rested at King's Lynn.

Tuesday began with delays following an accident near Guyhirn, 37563 on K2 08.21 Wisbech to Lowestoft passed me 18 late, but K3 and K4 had only lost 7 minutes and then services reverted to time. There were a couple of swaps with Y9 and Y13 exchanging 37566 & 37573 for 37577 & 37568.

Wednesday saw 37160 needing attention from the Volvo man, but it still managed to do K5 from Lynn to Peterborough and back before being stopped and replaced by 37566. Later it was out again though replacing 37564 for the 18.02 to Lowestoft. A maintenance swap saw 37567 come off K16 at 16.00 with 37572 working forward to Lowestoft. Once again Malcolm Hicks reports three different types of double decker on the X2, the 10.38 departure from Lowestoft was 32652, 32211 was on the 11.08 and this afternoon the 14.38 had Palatine 34157.

Richard Alger took some pictures in Dereham on Tuesday which he has kindly sent. He managed to get some X1s together with the Konect service 8.

Friday January 6th 2012 ~ Bruce Reports

Thanks to Bruce for standing in while I was at the BBC today. Here is his list of sightings (well, we haven't had a list for a long time have we ?)

08.31 K2 37569,

08.33 Y6 37574,

09.03 Y7 37157,  K3 not seen

09.36 K4 37577,

09.43 L8 a B9 coincided with sausage sandwich breakfast,

10.10 K5 37575 passed Y9 37160.

10.40 L10 37565, Y6 not seen.

11.10 Y7 37157,

11.11 L11 37567

11.39 L12 37159

11.40 L8 37572

12.38 K14 37158

13.08 K15 36180

13.10 L11 37567

13.35 K16 37579

14.06 K17 37570

14.08 Y13 37573

14.38 K18 a B9 slipped by

15.06 K19 37566

15.39 K1 37563 simultaneously with K16 and 37579

16.40 K18 37576

16.41 K3 37564

20115,20126 and 34108 were not noted west of Kings Lynn on this day either, however RML2480 appeared to be the only available spare bus at Richard's garage

 

Malcolm adds :This afternoon Jenny and Rachel saw 37574 leaving the bus station working Y6, I saw 32656 working the 14.38 X2 service to Norwich, 37578 worked Y7, 34155 worked the 15.03 X2 to Norwich, 37572 worked L8 and 37160 was on Y9. 

You will see from this that 37157 was swapped at Lynn for 37578 to work the 11.32 Lynn to Lowestoft and later this evening 37574 had a headlight out on Y6, so 37565 took over for the 17.45 Lynn - Peterborough. 37565 started the day on L10, but 37571 was substituted at Lynn at 10.15. Punctuality looks to have been good for a Friday.

 

 

Thursday January 5th 2012 ~ X1 Fans

When I was in Edinburgh last weekend I managed to spend a morning with Stuart Montgomery. He took me on one of the new Enviros and we then spent a couple of hours in George Street watching the goings on. Princes Street is of course closed for the installation of the Tramway, so all buses are having to be diverted from this stretch.
 Anyway, Stuart is always (justifiably) proud of Lothian Buses and the immaculate condition in which they keep their fleet. I remember a year or so back I saw one of First's B7 Geminis up there with the fan making a horrendous racket and I asked Stuart if Lothian ever have this problem, as they run a very large Gemini fleet, to which he responded " Och No ! Never, it would be taken straight off the road ". I had to smile then, when last weekend Lothian Gemini 702 I think it was, rounded the corner sounding like a roadsweeper. Stuart swiftly changed the subject !

One of Lothian's Lady Victoria liveried Geminis, one of which had a faulty fan during my visit.

For several months now, our X1 fleet have been silent in this respect, then last night I passed 37160 on K4. I had my stereo turned up quite loud, but the bus seemed to momentarily drown it out. Surely not ? Then today 37160 worked Y7, it being heard before it was viewed, confirming that its fan is playing up. Oh well never mind !
At this point I thought I would go 'off subject' a little and show some other buses seen during my Edinburgh visit. I know some drivers read this blog and they might be surprised to learn that although Lothian's fleet is very new (and completely low floor), indeed Stuart told me that their oldest vehicle is a Y reg Dart, in contrast, the First fleet are quite elderly and certainly older than anything we have apart from 20115/126.

So some pretty ancient stuff there then, but isn't it lovely to still see the Royales in use. Finally on this topic, it's not all low floor with Stagecoach either :

For a better idea of the Lothian fleet, you couldn't do better than to take a look at Stuart's Flickr site :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuart_montgomery/

So what about the X1 then ? Well it was a good day for punctuality overall, certainly at the west end of the route. This afternoon 37573 on K1 passed Bruce 13 late on the 15.15 King's Lynn to Peterborough, but smart working reduced this to just 7 minutes by the time it left Wisbech. Everything else seen was within 8 minutes of the timetable.
Having said that, there was an element of disruption caused in the east due to today's high winds as Des reports :
"I was waiting to work Y7 15.42 Yarmouth - King's Lynn, due in at 15.37. Breydon Bridge had been closed to northbound traffic only, while curiously traffic continued to use it southbound. This resulted in long queues of traffic on all other routes into the town. By 16.00, a Lynn driver who has his meal break at Yarmouth had turned up to work L8 16.12 to Peterborough. we decided that as he had to have a further break  at Lynn before operating the 19.50 thence to Peterborough (L10), he should take the next bus that arrived and operate it as L8 (the 16.12). Y7 arrived at 16.18, 41 late with 37160, this loaded and then departed at 16.21 now running as L8. This would need refuelling at Lynn at 18.55 as it had originally been on Y7 which terminates there, but would now be required to work through to Peterborough and back to Yarmouth.
At 16.28 the original L8 arrived with 37579, 16 late and less delayed as Breydon Bridge had been reopened to northbound traffic. I ran forward as Y7 dropping passengers at Acle, Norwich and Easton with 'not in service' on the screen. I then ran light to Little Fransham where I resumed 'in service' now just 23 minutes late".

37564 in King's Lynn Vancouver Avenue garage this evening after arrival on L11. Along with 37563, 37567, 37573 & 37574, it is currently running without adverts on the passenger side reminding us of how these vehicles were intended to look.

A nice line up of 37575, 37579, 37576 & 37577 at King's Lynn tonight

Elsewhere L12 had 37577 with a gear fault replaced by sister 37578 for the 11.15 Lynn to Peterborough and there was a swap an hour later on K14 too with 37576 coming off for a scheduled service and 37565 working forward as the 12.15 to Peterborough