Sunday January 4th 2015 ~ Carry on Blogging

Firstly a very Happy New Year to all my readers. I know updates have not been frequent over the last 12 months and several people have asked whether I intend to continue running the X1 Blog. The answer is that I will give up when I get bored and that hasn't happened yet, so for the time being it's a case of Carry On Blogging.
Thanks to all of you who supplied me with photographs and information in 2014, it is much appreciated and helps make the blog more than just my own thoughts and observations.
The big question is, will the blog have more to report in 2015. The answer to that will probably have more to do with vehicle reliability than anything else. Since the timetable split in July last, 33818 - 33824 have only operated over the Norwich to Lowestoft section of the route and apart from a brief re-appearance by 33824 to have an MOT at King's Lynn, this has been the situation. On Friday 2nd January however, 33818 arrived at King's Lynn to assist after a couple of incidents.
Firstly on Monday 29th, 33808 failed at Easton while working the 13.30 Norwich - Peterborough with a gearbox problem. The bus was disabled to the extent that it had to be towed back to King's Lynn where it arrived at 18.30 for investigative work to begin. The gearbox drive plates were the problem and it is hoped to have 33808 back on the road in the next few days. Meanwhile 33815 has been taken off the road with a serious engine fault and ADL staff will attend to decide on remedial action this week. It is thought that this may mean a new engine is required and the bus may be out of traffic for quite a while. It was therefore decided to bring in 33818 as a temporary replacement. On Saturday 3rd 33818 returned to the Peterborough route work commencing with the 06.34 King's Lynn - Peterborough.
As at close of play on Christmas Eve, 33811 was leading in the mileage stakes having clocked up 138,578 miles and seven others of King's Lynn's Enviro allocation had also exceeded 130,000. Laggard 33803 had done 117,944 miles at this time.
As you may know First have revamped their fares from January 4th and I'm pleased to report a wider choice of options for those who use the western part of the route. Special mention must be made of a new weekly  X1 west of Dereham ticket - this brings the cost down from £26 to £22 for the week and is incredibly good value for money in my opinion. More info on the revised ticketing arrangements can be found here :
http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/suffolk_norfolk/travel_news/news_initiatives/?item=24141&conf=0