Well a very belated Happy New Year to all our readers ! Having not had access to my PC recently, I'm catching up at work late this afternoon !
Today I had to go to York for beers with friends, so got to test the water again. First sightings were K1 three early with 37569, Y8 on time with 37567 and 37578 on K2. I did Y9 09.31 Wisbech - Peterborough which had Blondie driving 37564 and a good thrashing she gave it too in order to keep time. We left just over 2 minutes late oweing to an Ada losing her bus pass which delayed everyone boarding. Despite a reasonable amount of traffic, we did quite well :-
Wisbech 09.32.29
Weasenham Lane 09.35.15
Guyhirn 09.43.10
Thorney Toll 09.47.02 - 09.47.24
Thorney School 09.52.14 - 09.52.49
Thorney F & S Shop 09.53.51
Eye Green Rbt 09.58.41
P'bo Bus Station arr. 10.07.30
En route we passed 20109 on K4 08.48 ex Pbo and 37573 on K6 09.18 eastbound. I sat upstairs at the back and this is the only area with legroom it would seem. The windows all round were filthy and not likely to be appreciated by inquisitive passengers such as myself. The ride was OK, but I wouldn't have wanted to travel any further in this style of seat. If anyone disagrees, I suggest they try travelling the full length of the route ! What was encouraging was that this journey was accomplished quicker than my journey at the end of November and included two passenger stops. The speed increase is obviously mainly the reason, but commendable nevertheless.
My return trip on K20 20.18 from Peterborough gave me my first dose of B7 travel, with 20351 in fact. This was two minutes late from Queensgate and six late into Wisbech. The B7s progress was hampered by that bane of present day travel, the Tesco lorry, which was followed from Eye to Thorney and after our diversion through the village which included a mystery stop (no passengers in sight), we caught it up again when we rejoined the A47. Finally losing the lorry at Cromwell Road roundabout, the B7 was allowed to stretch its legs briefly into Wisbech. Comfort wise there was no comparison with a B9 of course, the coach giving an excellent ride. On the way we passed L13 near Thorney Toll which was also a B7.
This is the unofficial blog for the Peterborough - Norwich XL bus service operated by First Group. Originally reporting the introduction of the 'Gemini' double deckers and the phasing out of coaches, the blog is now incredibly in its twelfth year and in 2021 the new fleet of state of the art double deckers enter their second year in traffic. To contact me with your observations/experiences on the XL, email gerardtcc@gmail.com .
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