Wednesday 17th December 2008 ~ Guess the Route

There was an old woman who waited for a bus
the route it was taking she just could not suss
it went off the route up the A eleven 01
the poor woman at Tescos thought the bus must have gone
She waited in case it was just running late
- by the time it came she'd forgotten the date
The reason you see for her poor frozen plight
was a misguided Lynn driver with an elephant white !

You see it must be a bit frustrating if you are waiting for an X1 at the Weasenham Lane stop, you could in fact be there for hours before one turns up. As regular readers will know, in order to provide the good citizens of Wisbech (what do you mean, are there any ?) with that great necessity of life in a recession, otherwise known as a Lidl supermarket, temporary traffic lights were installed on Cromwell Road a few weeks ago causing all manner of mayhem and delays. At the beginning of last week, some more permanent lights which phased correctly were put in to avoid delays over the Christmas period and since then traffic has been running smoothly. With the lights being slap bang in the middle of the X1 route, major delays occurred and an unadvertised diversionary route was set up, whereby on leaving Wisbech bus station, westbound X1s took the A1101 Ely road as far as the A47 B & Q roundabout where they took the Wisbech western bypass to rejoin the advertised route at the next roundabout. The same applied in reverse for eastbound services. This left the poor passengers waiting at the aforementioned bus stop without any service.
One might reasonably have expected the x1 to resume its normal route following last weeks improvement and in some cases this has happened, however, some drivers are insisting on taking the alternative route, so whether you get a bus at Weasenham Lane is very hit and miss. Tonight Bruce encountered 37576 near B & Q on the wrong route on K18 14.48 from Peterboro' whilst the white elephant on K2 16.31 Wisbech - Peterborough took the correct route. Jason told me last week that there was a rumour going around at Lynn that the Weasenham Lane stop was to be permanently axed with all buses taking the A1101. Some drivers seem to have taken it upon themselves to implement this change without telling anyone !
One item from yesterday I failed to record was K1 starting the day with 37565 and later on the 15.29 Lynn - Peterborough appearing with an unidentified B10 - a bit too dark for Bruce to see the number. There were some B10s to spot today, again thanks to Bruce for spotting 20111 on J10 from Gorleston (this left Wisbech at 10.01 via the A1101) and another unidentified example on L13. As I left Wisbech tonight I was surprised to see dear old 20131 heading in to town 15 late to work the 17.01 to Peterborough (K4).
John was in touch today and says 'Only got out briefly pm today, but very productive.
Around Gaywood Clock at around 3pm were 20106 and 34155 on 41, the latter inbound with full and very clear display on the front. 37573 came along for the Park School duty, all washed (down as distinct from washed up). 65529 was past on 42 with its front display now working properly. All that in a few minutes. Later I had to pass VA where 34157 was present. Are these loans ??' One would imagine so John, but I will have to enquire. I wonder if the occasion will arise when one gets out on the X1 instead of a B10 ?