Wednesday 11th November 2015 ~ More Pix and things

Thanks to Cameron Robinson we can see 'newby' 37274 at work today on the X1 , firstly at Great Yarmouth and later at Norwich :

Photos copyright Cameron Robinson

Doesn't look like 37274 will get the disfiguring adverts either ! Cameron also reports that similarly liveried 37578 put in an appearance on the 14.50 service 7 to Belton this afternoon, while 32061 worked the 07.40 Lowestoft - Norwich returning as far as Yarmouth where it was swapped for an Enviro 400. This might possibly have been 33821 which was due to receive a new alternator ar Great Yarmouth today. 

In response to Richard Adderson's queries about diversionary routes a driver ( whose anonymity has been respected) says "Just read your latest posting. I think you will get different responses from different drivers on the subject of how much discretion drivers are allowed. One thing to keep in mind is it is my belief that our route is not fixed, just the stops are fixed, although some are missed during major disruptions on the A47.

I can really only speak for myself. Most of the time when one sees X1 buses on secondary roads it is usually due to being diverted by controllers to get around road blockages. Whether a Controller will divert a particular bus comes down to an individual drivers experience. At the Peterborough end of the route  I personally have several ways out of the city if the usual route is blocked or congested, especially during school/peak hour traffic. In the evenings after 1800, drivers are generally left to their own devices, I have been known to take the bumpy little road between Thorney and Whittlesea when the A47 was suddenly closed for roadworks without any notification as an example. So drivers do have some discretion, depending on the time of day and the circumstances"

Norwich Bus Station on 27th October at midday showing 33821 & 33822 , one just arrived the other departed a few seconds after I took the photo. Photo : A Nonymous

Tuesday 10th November 2015 ~ More X1 News !

Two updates in two days - good grief whatever next ? Well firstly here's a nice pic from Grahame Bessey (http://eastnorfolkbus.blogspot.co.uk/) of the ex Greenline Gem 37274 about to commence its first day working off Great Yarmouth. Grahame says it's not up to his usual standard as the light was very poor, but it looks good to me !

More news from the east is reported by Malcolm Hicks where on Monday 9th 32348 newly repainted in urban livery performed with the 09.40 Lowestoft - Yarmouth X1 while another stranger was 32629 on the 10.40 an hour later. 
Richard Adderson wrote to me last week and said " I went out for lunch at Cantley today (3rd Nov) , and was driving towards Thorpe End on the B1140 around 11.50 when I was confronted with an X1 coming the other way (into Norwich), which I later discovered was avoiding the A47 owing to the latest accident at North Burlingham. Fair enough, this had obviously been diverted from Acle via South Walsham, a straightforward alternative.
Later though, around 2.50, I met another Enviro, destination blind Norwich, heading south on the byroad which runs from Blofield, through Blofield Corner up the the B1140. I can only imagine he too had come from Acle via South Walsham, but had chosen to rejoin the A47 at the Brundall roundabout, west of the blockage, and take the normal route into Norwich from there.

 The latter makes me wonder how much discretion drivers are allowed in altering their routes to avoid road closures – is there some sort of central control which tells them where to go, when the usual route is unexpectedly blocked, or are they left to their own devices? The earlier bus would have had a straight run on the “back road” from Acle, but would have become ensnared in the city traffic from the Heartsease onwards, while the other would have had a tortuous journey from the B1140 to Blofield but the benefit of dual carriageway as far as Trowse.  Any idea what the policy is with this? Or if not, maybe worth putting the query on the blog one day?

And sorry, no photographs nor bus fleet numbers – I was driving in the opposite direction on both occasions! "

Well over to you dear readers, I know some of you will know the answer or have tales of your own on this subject.

Yesterday (Monday) saw what is (thankfully) an ultra rare spectacle, when two X1s arrived in Wisbech following each other - not even a car separating them - these being 33815 & 33806 working the 13.45 and 14.15 services from Peterborough respectively. The 13.05 service with 33812 had arrived on time at 13.50 but there was then a gap of 74 minutes before the pair of buses turned up at 15.04. This seemed to be an isolated incident and other services ran to time. In contrast, today (Tuesday), the 10.05 from Peterborough was seen arriving at Wisbech 5 minutes early with 33809.

Sunday 9th November 2015 ~ All's Well

A few things to report since the last update. 37274 has arrived at Yarmouth painted in Excel blue livery and 32348 is due shortly in Urban livery. 33819 suffered a rear end smash in Gorleston last week and is now at Full Circle for repairs, but otherwise the Enviro 400 fleet are all in service. 33816 was in trouble on Friday night (6th November) when it shut down soon after leaving Peterborough near the A15 junction on the last eastbound service to King's Lynn. Engineering staff attended bringing 33807 to rescue about a dozen passengers and 33816 was restarted and returned to King's Lynn for investigation. I hope to do a more detailed update shortly.