My colleague Cheryl was very kind to me today and arranged a position for me to work near the window, giving a birdseye view of the road and of course, the passing buses !
Today was by no means a bad day for punctuality on the whole, certainly when compared to some of Bruce's Friday vigils. He was able to enjoy the first day of his 'holiday' without worrying about the X1 too much, he did have the last laugh though......
At Wisbech, westbound departures were observed for most of the day. 37574 on Y9 (10.18 to Peterborough) and 37573 on L12 (11.48) were dead on time and other services under 10 minutes late. The first exception was 37567 which being a Lowestoft bus was most unusually employed on K15, which was 12 late and this then became the average lateness for the remainder of the afternoon westbound. With 37577 being seen on K14, it looks as if this may have been the original bus on K15, overtaking 37567 on K14 at some point, hence the reversal of diagrams.
That was pretty much the story westbound other than to say that one service took the diversionary route down the A1101 (the driver I daresay forgot the normal route was open) and this just happened to be Y13 with 20107 seen just 2 minutes late by Bruce - but not, therefore, by me !
Eastbound was a different story. 37563 on Y7 lost 7 minutes west of Wisbech and was12 late returning (due 10.20), I missed seeing L8 and Y9 but L10 was in real trouble with 37565 being 6 late going west and 33 late coming back ! Next was 37564 on L11 which was 6 late westbound and 21 late returning. After this average lateness into Wisbech from Peterborough was 15 minutes. Somehow 37577 on K14 avoided this fate and was only 4 late. Best performer - predictably - was 20500 working K19 which was 11 late going west and only 4 late returning.
At King's Lynn the late running saw some changes to diagrams. 37565 on L10 stepped up to become L11 with 37570 off repairs working L10 13.02 to Lowestoft. 37564 on L11 was halted at Lynn and this then replaced 37577 on K14 to enable it to end up at Lowestoft for further inspection.
Tonight 20107 was still on Y13, but a disappointing 18 late at Terrington St. John on the 22.05 to Peterborough when viewed by Bruce. K5 which had started the day with 37159 saw this diverted onto the 14.38 Lowestoft to Beccles and this should then have done a schools turn and eventually the 18.08 Norwich to Lowestoft X2. 37578 replaced it, having ended up spare at Lowestoft but on arrival at Lynn at 20.00 this then did L8 21.35 back to Lowestoft after the incoming Gemini, 37575, had a headlight out.
Michael reports Royale 34108 on the X2 today, it was seen on the 13.38 to Norwich. Peter had a trip out to Peterborough on 37572 (Y6) returning on K15 (37567) and the journey was uneventful by his standards.
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 .
1 comment:
Hi Gerard,
"L10 was in real trouble with 37565 being 6 late going west and 33 late coming back ! Next was 37564 on L11 which was 6 late westbound and 21 late returning" - Eastbound problems caused by a Lorry and 3 car shunt at 'The Reaches' near Thorney on A47. L11 (37564) routed P/B > Whittlesey >Wisbech. 37564 also experienced ABS brake problems while on diversion.
Des
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