Monday 16th July 1012 - Sunday 22nd July 2012 ~ Goodbye Rain

37578 approaches Tilney All Saints on a diverted X1

One unusual event which I failed to mention in the last blog, was the diversion of evening buses via Tilney All Saints for three nights up to 13th July. Closure for resurfacing of the A47 Tilney High End Roundabout saw services westbound from Lynn taking the A17 to the Tilney turn and then the road through the village past Glebe Estate and the Church. The diversion continued on to the school where a right turn was taken past the Eagles golf course to rejoin the normal route at what was at the stop once known as Tilney All Saints (New Inn). This added around ten minutes to schedules and I travelled the diversion on the Friday night. The journey to Lynn was spoiled by idiots on the upstairs back seat who were threatening to urinate and worse - if you are of a nervous disposition, I strongly recommend you travel downstairs on a Friday evening. Coming home though, the 21.50 service was unusually full thanks to punters from the King's Lynn Festival and I'm pleased to say all were impeccably behaved.

Over the past week services have run very well with no major incidents noted. Monday saw an unusual evening bus swap when K1-XL07with 37568 arrived at Great Yarmouth at the end of its booked turn , but was then called on to work the last leg of K17-XL04 to Lynn instead of 37576.
On Tuesday K2 -XL08was in trouble at Norwich with a transmission fault on 37579. 37564 was summoned from King's Lynn and worked the remainder of the turn from Dereham. A serious accident on the A146 at Stockton caused delays to the X2 and 32651 & 30887 were seen arriving at Lowestoft in quick succession before departing as the 11.38 & 12.08 to Norwich.  Back on the X1 37158 was 7 late out of Lynn with K18-XL05 and had lost a further 10 minutes by arrival in Yarmouth.

At lunchtime today 37573 nearest the camera replaced 37563 on XL01 -K14 12.15 King's Lynn - Peterborough.
Photo from  Richard Delahay via Des Speed.

On Wednesday 37157 had to be removed from K18-XL05 and a repaired 37579 replaced it. 

Seat damage on 37157 - these seats are pretty rugged, so how did this happen ?

37571 had its MOT on Thursday and 37573 was taken off K5-XL11 at 10.30 for repairs to be carried out. 37565 worked forward. K3-XL09 arrived at Lynn with 37158 which had its steering pulling and this was taken out of service for investigation. Palatine 34155 arrived in Lowestoft 30 late on the 14.10 X2 from Norwich and then left 20 late on the 15.48 return. 
Friday saw K2-XL08 in trouble at Norwich with 37569 having to have its oil pressure switch replaced by a Volvo technician. The bus was repaired without too much delay and was able to continue the turn. 37564 which had been 11 late into Lowestoft on L8-XL14 then suffered a water leak at Dereham at 17.50. 37574 which had arrived at Lynn on Y7-XL13 was then used to work L8 forward from Lynn to Peterborough at 18.50. 34156 was another Palatine deputising on the X2 and Malcolm saw it departing with the 15.03 to Norwich. 37577 was progressively delayed on Y13 13.05 from Peterborough (XL19), 22 late from Wisbech, 27 late from Lynn and 29 down at Dereham. Time was regained however and it was 23 late at Norwich but just 13 late into Yarmouth. 
Saturday was uneventful with all buses behaving. I had a couple of trips to Wisbech, firstly with 37576 on L12-XL18 and returning with a still noisy 37575 on L9-XL15. Then K17-XL04 returning on K15-XL02 with Frank who hasn't had his picture in the blog lately. well what do you know, Dave Hodkinson was at Peterborough later and snapped 37566 on K5-XL11, with - yes you've guessed it - Frank doing his paperwork.

Both 37572 and 37568 were quite comfortable, though in the latter's case I sat on the back seat downstairs and the reversed seats facing me had clearly been abused by backseat passengers putting their feet on them. The woman opposite me proving the point. 
37576 was swapped on Sunday with a splintered windscreen and Y7 continued with 37567.

New Buses ? - The Truth

Following the recent blog entries mentioning new buses and there possible whereabouts, I am pleased to say that I now have word from the man in the know.

He says "Just to let you know that there are no replacement X1 vehicles in the Olympic fleet, at West Ham or anywhere else ! A discussion on replacing the vehicles in next years vehicle allocation is about to take place ". So there we are, false alarms all round and the existing Geminis will continue for the foreseeable future. More details as and when I receive them.

Monday 9th July 2012 - Sunday 15th July 2012 ~ Up the Hammers ?

No I haven't changed alllegiance - I still support NCFC. Apparently the 17 new buses - along with nearly 200 others for elsewhere - are parked up at West Ham of all places. Thanks to all who have been in touch and provided info.

Quiet times during the period under review. 37567 was out of action until Thursday for MOT work and on Saturday evening 37571 was stopped for the same purpose. No less than four turns had vehicle swaps on Monday, though I'm not sure why. All services resumed using the Churchill Road and either Wisbech Bypass or Weasenham Lane and the old route is not due to reopen now until 1st September.

On Monday afternoon, K1-XL07 15.15 King's Lynn - Peterborough passes Walpole with 37575 and a wave from Adrian. The NG Service 46 is in pursuit,

  Tuesday passed without any changes. Malcolm noted 37571 on K16-XL03 arriving 13 late and departing 7 down. Both 32651 and 32654 were noted on the 101s which is probably unprecedented. Incidentally Richard A says that the info regarding the transfer of ALX400s to Yarmouth was erroneous and this was never the intention. 34156 was on the 10.38 X2 to Norwich this morning.
On Wednesday 37563 expired at Blofield on L10-XL16 with a broken hose and consequent loss of coolant, 37571 was pinched off L12-XL18 and took over the turn, while L12 later continued from Lynn at 11.15 with 37573. Meanwhile, Rachel was not amused as she was waiting at Lowestoft for L12 to transport her to work on her first day in her new job. Fortunately she managed to get there on time by other means after the X1 failed to appear.
Des had a nightmare run to Peterborough with 37159 on Y9-XL15. "Tractor from Emneth bypass roundabout to Guyhirn, then followed a Tesco lorry to Thorney. Next was an 8 wheeled crane from Thorney to the A15 retail park, so an on time departure deteriorated to a 15 minute late arrival at Peterborough rail station. Departed 10 late then 6 late from Queensgate  and 4 late into and out of Lynn". 34156 was seen by Malcolm on the 10.38 X2 out of Lowestoft.
37563 was checked out at Lynn on Thursday and 37567 returned to traffic taking over K17-XL04 in the afternoon from 37579. I had a day out to Peterborough for beers with Peter, so was able to have a few short X1 runs before the main event, taking L12-XL18 on time with Karen F at the helm.

37570 about to leave Peterborough Rail station for Lowestoft at 12.35. The only indication that buses run from here is the old 'Railinks stop' sign.

The bus stop with no timetables - I assume it is the Council's responsibility to provide them ?

 During our session in the Brewery Tap, I nipped out to the nearby bus station to photograph K16-XL03 with 37576 and Mr. Speed driving (below). Talk about consciencous ? He was so busy concentrating on the road, he missed seeing me completely which I guess was a good thing.

37576 gets away from Peterborough Queensgate Bus Station on K16 -XL03 

We came back to Wisbech on 37573 on K2-XL08 which like almost all services seen was on time. In the morning four of the five B7s passed through Wisbech within an hour, these being 37157 on Y7-XL13, 37160 on L8-XL14, 37156 on Y9-XL15 and 37158 with L11-XL17. Of these the only black mark was 37157 running about 15 late, due almost entirely I think to the large number of passengers boarding at Wisbech heading eastbound. I had intended to have a fill in move with it, but it was so full, I didn't fancy fighting for a seat or missing 37570 on L12. At the eastern end , Malcolm reports X2 departures at 10.08 & 10.38 with 30887 & 32652 and 37159 11 late in on K18-XL05. By the time Des was driving 37159 from the Southgates at 17.07, it was on almost running to time, however, the schedule was lost eventually as the 30 minutes allocated from Norwich to Yarmouth is just not possible with a B7 and 5 minutes were lost on this section.

Friday saw K15 -XL02 with 37564 running 12 late at JPH after an accident on the Acle Straight and other services noted delayed at Lowestoft were 37574 departing 16 late on K16 -XL03 and 37567 10 late in on K17 - XL04. Town services were double deckers again with 32656 on the 101 and 34156 on the 103. The trials of 37564 were not over, it was further delayed at Lowestoft after some twirlies tried to board without paying - senior citizens free travel commences at 09.30 and K15-XL02 is due away at 09.25. A panto situation developed where the driver was the villain and by the time the awkward passengers gave up, it was after 09.30 anyway. Honestly some people are never happy ! Departure was 22 late from Norwich after reopening of the Acle Straight but futher delays en route. At Little Fransham this service became XL03-K16 and 37574 overtook to become K15-XL02 forward from Lynn. L8-XL14 had 37579 replace 37576 during the day.
K18-XL05 encountered trying conditions westbound from Lynn, 37156 left Lynn 5 late but heavy rain, a slow A47 crawl and queueing into Wisbech saw the bus into Peterborough bus station 16 late. Even though it departed just 2 late on the return by serving the rail station next, conditions made it 23 late at Southgates driver change. Similarly K1-XL07 18.02 Lynn - Yarmouth with 37578 departed 17 late and was 15 late at its destination.
Saturday saw 37571 sidelined for its MOT work and 37576 had a faulty adblue sensor, however, it was fit  to take over from 37573 on K1 at some point and another swap occurred with 37160 on K18-XL05 being replaced by 37569.
Sunday seemed a normal day although by evening two consecutive services were seen marginally early with traffic appearing to be very light.

I Don't Believe It !

I am told by a reliable source that the new buses for the X1 are currently parked in a location north of London labelled for Olympic use but with X1 branding. The livery is different from the current one and I believe the lower bodysides are burgundy. The seventeen buses (not 22 as we'd hoped) have leather seats and and are rumoured to have more powerful engines than the current fleet. True or false ? We will see.

Panther Travel in Harwich who run Plaxton Premiere B10M N611APU, the former X1 coach are thought to have acquired another of the fleet. I was quoted the former 20101 and 20107 but the former was in very poor condition when sent to Erith Commercials, so may be this is a typo for 20111. As for 20107 which was the most reliable coach in its latter years, it was also thought to have been crushed - again more waiting and seeing !

Wednesday 4th July - Sunday 8th July 2012 ~ Working Buses

By working buses, I actually mean buses seen from work ! Yes today (Wednesday) most X1 services ran via the booked route from Wisbech Horsefair via Nene Quay, along South Brink and onto Cromwell Road. Delays were inevitable though, as the Olympic Torch arrived in King's Lynn just after 11.00 and this meant that for a while, London Road in Lynn was closed with X1s travelling via Vancouver/Tennyson Avenues to get in and out of the bus station. 37565 on K5 (XL11) was 2 late into Wisbech from Peterborough and was later seen emerging from the diversionary route at the Southgates roundabout at 10.48 on the 10.32 King's Lynn - Lowestoft, so only running about 10 late.
Traffic into King's Lynn was almost at a standstill between 08.30 & 09.30 due to the heavy traffic and progress for the X1 s was slow. 37572 on L8 (XL14) was seen departing the Southgates at 09.35 (about 14 late) and was 16 late from Wisbech, although the driver had managed to reduce the deficiency to 12 minutes on its return eastbound. Peterborough bound services from Wisbech then ran as follows : Y9 (XL15) 37157 21 late, L10 (XL16) 37573 10 late, L11 (XL17) 37159 11 late and  L12 (XL18) 37571 9 late. Charting the progress of 37157 it arrived in Lowestoft 17 late while 37159 was 10 late in and Des then took it as the 16.55 to Lynn departing 12 late with a full load and passengers standing as the 16.40 service 1 to Yarmouth had not appeared. Slow traffic into Yarmouth, a bendybus depositing Olympic Torch park and riders blocking the bay in Norwich and an RTA at Honingham with single file traffic all contributed to a 14 minute late arrival in Lynn.
Later Bruce saw K18 (XL05) with 37158 coming off the Wisbech bypass having taken the diversionary route running 8 late. 37569 on K19 (XL06) ran via Nene Quay and was right time with 37569. In Lowestoft the 101 town service had 30886 yesterday and 30889 today.

It's all diversions at the moment and due to a water main burst last month in Great Yarmouth, services have been taking a left in King Street before turning into Yarmouth Way and Hall Quay while permanent  repairs are carried out. 37156 takes the diversion with K5 - XL11 on Tuesday of this week. Photo : Roy, East Norfolk Bus Blog
More photos here :  http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastnorfolkbus/sets/72157630416222522/

On Thursday 37576 went to Bexwell for its MOT and the service ran well. K17-XL04 had a servicing swap with 37575 replacing 37579 at 13.45. Only two services were noted running late, the 09.56 Wisbech - Lowestoft (K5 - XL11) which was 11 late arriving from Peterborough with 37160 and later in the afternoon 37573 was 13 late on K19 - XL06 14.45 King's Lynn - Peterborough. Most surprising of all was K16 - XL03 which was spot on time westbound with 37159 and likewise departing east from Wisbech to Lowestoft at 15.26.
This evening there was a late vehicle swap when 37566 on L8 - XL14 20.05 Peterborough - Gorleston JPH came off at Lynn to be replaced by 37567. Malcolm saw two consecutive X2s with substitute buses, the 12.08 to Norwich was 34156 and the 12.38 30887.  32651 which is normally on the X2 was running about on the 101 !
With all but three of the X1 services between 9 & 5 using the route past me today, it was a good opportunity to review timekeeping on a Friday, a day when it is notoriously poor due to traffic volumes.
5 - 7 minute delays were the norm until lunchtime. After that westbound services from Wisbech were : K15-XL02 37572 15 late, K16-XL03 37563 3 late, K17-XL04 37573 13 late. K18-XL05 37158 14 late, K19-XL06 37565 12 late. Earlier K3-XL09 with 37571 was seen by Cheryl arriving at Wisbech 22 late eastbound and 37570 replaced it at Lynn. Evening peak traffic saw Y7 -XL13 arrive in Lynn with 37157 15 late having lost 9 minutes en route due to congestion. Malcolm reports Dart 42446 on the 15.03 X2 to Norwich this afternoon.
On Saturday it was the Lord Mayors Parade in Norwich and Wisbech Rose Fair Parade. Surprisingly, there were no major delays noted. Between 11.00 & 11.30 and again from 14.00 - 14.30 Nene Quay was closed so services in and out of Wisbech took the Churchill Road, as they will do again from tomorrow until the end of August. K19 with 37574 was seen departing Wisbech on time this afternoon as the 15.18  to Peterborough via Nene Quay. L8 & L9 (XL14/15) swapped buses during the day, presumably  due to late running and starting the day with 37568 & 37564, tonight these diagrams were reversed.  At the eastern end K1-XL07 with 37159 was 17 late into Lowestoft but only 4 late departing on the 11.55 to Peterborough. Later 37579 on Y7-XL13 was 14 late arriving (due 14.40).

37579 seen in Great Yarmouth just after 14.00 this afternoon on Y7-XL13. Photo Dave Hodkinson

Sunday was a fairly normal day it would seem. Traffic was quiet as the masses stayed in to watch Andy Murray at Wimbledon. The service was operated by B9s with 37576 being replaced by 37579 at some point on XL09.

Monday / Tuesday 2nd/3rd July 2012 Bits & Pieces

Firstly I'm pleased to say that one of our trusty readers managed to capture 37567's little holiday in Norwich with his camera and kindly sent it in for use in the blog ....

37567 captured on the 24a by one of our Norwich correspondents

Now a few days ago I remarked on the proposed reopening of Nene Quay in Wisbech from Monday. WRONG - due to the contractors lethargy, the route is now closed until 31st August ! Well not quite, it has actually reopened in both directions today (Tuesday) and will remain so until after Saturday's Wisbech Rose Fair Parade, so may be a rare chance to get an X1 on the correct route if anybody realises it is possible. Meanwhile, Kings Street in Yarmouth is closed for emergency repairs - see the ENBB for details, link here :
http://eastnorfolkbus.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/bus-lane-closed.html

Monday 
37572 was kept in to get its starter motor sorted and 37564 was on a scheduled safety service. 37576 was on MOT prep. The service seemed to run well with no recorded changes, but Y6 (XL12) and 37574 did almost catch up K5 (XL11) with 37158 in Norwich. As a result the 13.55 ex Lowestoft ran empty to Norwich to get back in diagram . Normally when this happens passengers transfer to the following service at Norwich so that the K5 bus can then go directly to Lowestoft to work the 13.55.

Over on the X2, Lowestoft were due to lose a couple of its Volvo B7TL /ALX400s to Yarmouth, but has decided to keep them after all. This is probably because they are proving so useful. Today Malcolm Hicks saw 30889 on the 101 town service, 30887 on the 11.08  and later 30886 on the 14.38 X2s to Norwich.
Des explains more on the Southgates stopping situation following my comments last time : "The Southgates is an official X1 stop. Outward is the usual place to change drivers as five minutes from the bus station is a lot easier to judge than 10/15 minutes from Terrington. Shorter turn rounds at weekends mean that some turns do swap drivers on the inward, but getting across the busy road can be a problem.

Tuesday
37572 was back on the road on K2 (XL08) but 37564 wasn't ready for K4 (XL10) first thing, so 37159 took the turn to Peterborough and back and 37564 went forward to Lowestoft at 10.02. Services seemed to run very much to time today apart from K14 (XL01), this passed Bruce at Walpole at 12.42, so about 9 late. Looking out for it returning, it didn't appear and K15 (XL02) sauntered by with 37565 at 15.06 with just a couple of people on board, then at 15.12 37158 reappeared with a full load, now running 37 late ! King's Lynn control acted quickly and sent freshly serviced 37159 down to the bus station to work the 15.02 to Lowestoft and 37158 on arrival then retired to the garage.

Monday 25th June - Sunday 1st July 2012 ~ Sampling the Delights (a long blog !)

I've been able to use my VIP Pass recently for a few shorter trips as my Mum is now a little better. I've made 8 trips and been driven by nine drivers. The odd figure occurs because on Y10 on Saturday, we started out from Lynn bus station and changed chauffeurs at the South Gates. This is a bit odd from a drivers point of view too as the driver taking over doesn't actually know which passengers are on board (unless he uses the CCTV cameras) and is also unaware of which stops he is likely to have to make.
 One of the most infuriating things (I would imagine) is the number of times passengers inadvertantly press the bell pushes which are easily caught by bags etc. On one trip we came to a halt at the South Gates coming into Lynn after somebody had rung the bell, the doors opened and closed again without anyone leaving the vehicle - it was almost like we'd stopped for a ghost to get off ! I'm not sure if South Gates is regarded as an X1 stop, but I know that many drivers are willing to stop there to let passengers disembark. My journeys have all been comfortable, though the lack of legroom on a B9 compared to a B7 is noticeable. The first higher level seat downstairs seems particularly tight for someone of average height and build such as myself and it is necessary to constantly readjust seating position to avoid your knees rubbing against the seatback. The main problem though is definitely the lack of air conditioning - something which passengers often mention to me. The windows when open tend to give excessive draughts, especially in the Fens, so come on chaps, let's have some air con when we get a new fleet. Carol says " I used the X1 this week and it was just so hot, we also had one of the slower buses (37158) which didn't help, but the driver did make a sterling effort to make up time after the bus had been delayed by the Royal Norfolk Show".

All the drivers I have travelled with have been courteous and in some cases jovial, I've only had one bad experience where the driver on seeing my pass said "Yes ??? Well where are you going ? I need to know where you are going"  - turned out this was so that he could issue me a ticket, don't know if he was in the right or wrong but none of the other drivers have ever issued me a ticket. I wonder if he asks all the passengers where they are going when he takes over a bus at the Southgates ? Anyway, I think his customer service skills could do with brushing up - apparently he is a recent arrival from a rival company.

The driver needn't have worried - I was only going to sunny Wisbech !

The buses themselves have been clean and tidy, though the excessive amount of rubbish that the public leave behind is disappointing. Noisiest vehicle was 37575 which didn't sound very well at all, but the others have been quite good. Pick of the bunch was probably 37579. 

Finally I must add that the drivers have a heck of a lot to put up with. On one occasion, we were about to leave Wisbech 5 late when two lads boarded with scooters asking "Do you go to King's Lynn, near the centre". "I'm 13" said the bolder of the two, "how much is it". No word of thanks to the driver which these days is probably not surprising. The same driver then had to put up with three girls - the oldest being about ten - boarding en route and scrambling together enough change for their fares to Lynn - this took a couple of minutes making us even later. On another occasion the same driver again had an interrogation before departure from Lynn by a chap who was very persistent. "Are you taking us to Peterborough ?" The driver explained that he was actually getting off at the Southgates as his hours were up, this led to a very lengthy conversation to the point where he was asked what would happen if he carried on driving. The driver explained that a relief supervisor would have to come out and rescue the bus ! The point here is that at no time did the driver seem exasperated or flustered by any of these events, instead he was calm, pleasant and a credit to the X1.

and now Part 2 ! What has been happening......

Monday saw 37566 & 37570 kept in for servicing as scheduled and 37568 joined them in King's Lynn garage on MOT prep. 37574 had attention to an adblue sensor before it was released to work K19 (XL06). Timekeeping was fair but highlight was Y6 (XL12) 08.48 Wisbech to Peterborough & 37576 which actually departed bang on time which with traffic at this time of the morning is extremely rare.
L8 (XL14) which is normally solid B9 had 37159 today meaning a refuelling was required. Joe says "At 16.30 a Plaxton President broke down at Trowse causing delays to the X1, here's a couple of  pictures I took of 37577 on Y7 (XL13) stuck in the queue"

Tuesday began with two accidents on the Acle Straight, but X1 services didn't seem to suffer too badly as a result. L8 (XL14) with 37157 which due to late running had replaced 37575 at Lynn was seen passing Walpole by Bruce at 09.46, 8 late. 37158 on Y9 (XL15) was similarly late so 37575 off L8 (XL14) took this forward instead and was through Walpole at 10.26 (23 late), however, returning the delay had been reduced to just 14 minutes. Bruce didn't see L10 (XL16)  at all, but L11 (XL17) turned up with 37564 19 late reduced to 7 late coming back from Peterborough. After this things settled down but later 37158 replaced 37573 on Y6 (XL12) so that the latter could make its servicing slot.

Wednesday. The first day of the Royal Norfolk Show brought out the crowds and the delays !! At King's Lynn, the first westbound service affected by the event was Y9 (XL15) which was spotted arriving at Lynn Southgates 16 late with 37160. Des says "That was me driving, in fact we were 23 late at Easton - the outside lane is always the best way through, caught up a little time and departed Lynn 8 late at 09.53".
L10 (XL16) had 37158 and this was due to refuel at 13.05 being on one of the long turns, however, instead a clever bit of juggling saw 37578 on K16 (XL03) arrive from Lowestoft and then take over L10 (XL16) returning eastbound as the 13.02. Whether K16 (XL03) got through to Peterborough with 37158 is unknown, but the B7 was seen emerging from Vancouver Avenue after fuelling at 13.51 so at that point it would have been in excess of 30 late. 37156 on L11 (XL17) was seen returning from Peterborough 22 late but had recouped all this lost time by the evening when it was into Lynn on time at 19.58
XL18 (L12) with 37565 was seen at the Southgates inbound at 11.36, so 34 late and likewise Y13 (XL19) was seen at 12.08 (36 late). The latter with 37570 was then seen at Walsoken heading to Peterborough running 32 late. Of the eastbound morning services it was K1, K2 & K3 (XL07-09) which fared worst and these all swapped vehicles at some point.
Highlight of the month though was the unexpected borrowing by Norwich of 37567. This was spare at Lynn and was required at Norwich to cover for shortages caused by running the Norfolk Show shuttles.
Michael from Cringleford says " I could hardly believe my eyes this afternoon when I saw 37567 working the 16.14 local service 24a from the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital to Thorpe St. Andrew". Well thanks for the confirmation Michael, at least we know it was used on something ! Out on the X2 were 30887 on the 15.03  ex Lowestoft and 34155 on the 16.48 Lowestoft College to Norwich, thanks to Malcolm H for this.

Thursday. Mid morning Y6 (XL12) with Des driving 37575 caught up K5 (XL11) with 37579 at Dereham. The Easton & Hockering passengers transferred to 37575 and then at Norwich 37579 went light to Lowestoft to regain time, all passengers boarding Y6. Over in Lowestoft Malcolm saw 34155 on the 101 town service, but by the afternoon it had been replaced by Dart 43465, so may be the availability of these is improving.
The inability of the B7s to regain lost time was evident today. The delays caused by the Royal Norfolk Show were minimal  compared to yesterday and it wasn't until L11 (XL17) that things began to go wrong. This was 37159 and it was seen departing the Southgates for Peterborough at 11.09, about 14 late. It was past Bruce at 11.25 (now 22 late). Next was another B7, 37158 which was on L12 (XL18), this arrived from the east at 11.25 - 23 late but this had been cut to 18 late due to a smart driver change at Southgates by the time it passed Bruce. Y13 (XL19) in contrast was on time in from the east and remained so throughout its duty with 37563. K14 (XL01) was the first service going west which had to cope with Show delays in both directions and as a consequence, 37156 was 23 late into Lynn, cut to 15 late departing Southgates but back to being 23 late past Bruce. The timings for the X1 from Lynn to Walton Highway are extremely tight when the roads are busy and both 37156 & 37159 lost eight minutes on this section today.
37156 went back to Lowestoft on the 15.02 from Lynn and was 15 late departing. Another B7 which had lost time was 37160 on K16 (XL03), this was 25 late past Bruce heading to Peterborough with 37566 on K17 (XL04) close behind it.
Peter & Angela saw a succession of X1s in close proximity as they drove over to Peterborough, 37159 on L11 (XL17) was showing  'not in service' when passed near Guyhirn and just a few minutes behind was 37158 on L12 (XL18), itself closely followed by 37563 on Y13 (XL19)  which was on time. L12 (XL18) somehow managed to be just 3 late by the time it reached Walpole, but if you knew who was driving you wouldn't be surprised, well done that man ! Whilst all this was going on Y7 (XL13) swapped 37574 for 37577 at 11.30 for servicing requirements and 37568 had its MOT.

37569 on the outskirts of Norwich today (Thursday) with a healthy load. It was working K3 (XL09) this morning (Kieran Smith)

Friday. 37156 which has been a well behaved bus since its repaint was taken off L12 (XL18) with an oil leak today and it was replaced by 37568 back on the road after MOT. This left 37579 as spare bus. 37567 was due back from Norwich but never arrived ! 
After the last few days, timekeeping was good today, although late afternoon saw a couple of delays, notably K3 (XL09) with 37158 on the 16.15 Lynn - Peterborough which according to Peter was noisy, hot and very slow ! It was 21 late arriving into Wisbech and the following service, K4 (XL10) with 37574 was 13 late at Walpole. Another B7 37159 was on K18 (XL05), this ran 18 late from Lynn but was only 11 late into Yarmouth. Des says "We entered Norwich via the A140 as Newmarket Road was blocked". Whilst the X1 at Lowestoft seemed to be punctual, this afternoon Malcolm saw 32654 arrive on the 14.10 X2 from Norwich 22 late.

Saturday. 

37574 arrives at Norwich bus station as Y7 (XL13) 10.05 Peterborough - Lowestoft. {K Smith}

Delays of up to ten minutes were the order of the day. I did a trip to Wisbech on 37564 on XL04 (K17) and this was 9 late at Walpole. Returning I took 37565 on K15 (XL02) and this was 8 late. Later 37579 on K4 (XL10) 16.45 Lynn - Peterborough was 11 late westbound but some smart driving saw it only 3 late returning and it was on time into Lynn.

37157 looking quite tidy on the ramp at Norwich Bus Station exit. It was working K1 (XL07)  11.55 Lowestoft - Peterborough, due off Norwich at 13.25. This turn now garages at Lowestoft on Saturdays so quite often gets a B7. Photo from Kieran Smith.

and a final one from Kieran. Isn't that Wayne C driving 37579 on K4 (XL10)  13.25 ex Lowestoft here ? I will have to ask him why he was 'out of service' with passengers on at this point, though it was 17 late .  37579 certainly caught up any lost time by the time I travelled on it later, see notes above.

 37567 returned from Norwich today and requires cleaning and servicing. 37576 is now the vehicle stopped for MOT work.

Sunday
More tales of an X1 driver this morning. Paul was driving the 10.50 King's Lynn - Peterborough which I caught. A trio of passengers tried to board with their National Express tickets and he had to explain that this was not their bus ! We then left Lynn on time with 37578 and even though we didn't have to stop at Southgates for a driver change (this had happened on the way in), traffic and stops at Tilney and Terrington made us 7 late by Walpole, This was with a B9 and some good driving, so how on earth a B7 is supposed to keep time, Lord knows. 37572 was off the road with a starter motor problem today and the service was B9 worked throughout. The weather forecast today was originally poor, so the work at Norwich bus station has now been postponed until next Sunday.

Roadworks All The Way

No sooner had the Peterborough railway station stop been reopened, more disruption to the X1 service was in evidence. This time evening services had to be diverted because of the closure of the A12 between Gorleston Links Road and Hopton roundabout for resurfacing work taking place over four nights from 19.30 - 06.00 commencing 25th June. Initially the plan was to use a shuttle nus between Yarmouth, JPH and Lowestoft, but from what I can gather, in the end the X1s were able to get through to Lowestoft, but with a shuttle bus being provided for the James Paget Hospital.
Further delays are forecast on 4th & 5th July while the Olympic torch passes through the region, but one bit of good news involves the long term diversion at Wisbech. The normal direct route via Nene Quay should reopen on Monday 2nd July. Plans to permanently divert the X1 via the A1101 to serve Morrisons don't appear to have come to anything and all this would achieve would be that the service would serve a stop at Morrisons instead of Tesco. The former is already served by NG, while Cromwell Road  / Weasenham Lane is only served by the X1. The diversionary route also takes slightly longer.
Meanwhile repairs to the roof at Norwich bus station are planned for this Sunday (1st July) weather permitting. X1 services will use stops in St. Stephens Street for the day.
Thanks to Des and Kieran for help in compiling the above.

Monday 18th June - Sunday 24th June 2012 ~ Peterborough Rail station reconnected

Yes Peterborough railway station resumed its status as the western starting and terminating point for the X1 service today (Monday) although some work is still ongoing outside the station. The day itself passed without incident it would seem. The three sidelined buses were 37563 still awaiting tests, 37565 with an adblue fault and 37577 undergoing maintenance. Over at Lowestoft Malcolm Hicks viewed 34111on the 10.08 X2 to Norwich after the incoming vehicle from Norwich failed to appear, 32651 was on the 10.38 and has a very noisy fan, so this complaint is not restricted to certain Geminis.
Tuesday saw the same three buses off the road with 37563 now awaiting a new ECU. 37566 with Des on 11.02 King's Lynn to Lowestoft was 7 late from Lynn after tree cutting caused delays on the A47 Pullover Road, he then regained the lost time and caught up and overtook the bus in front at Dereham (37159 on K5). At Norwich K5 transferred its passengers to Y6 and 37159 went light direct to Lowestoft to form the 13.55 back to Peterborough. Malcolm saw 30889 on Lowestoft town service 101 and 37158 was 8 late arriving on K18.
So to Wednesday and this really has been an uneventful week X1 wise, 37565 returned to traffic on K19 and 37160 had a day off for maintenance instead. 30889 was still on the 101 this morning but 32654 had replaced it this afternoon. 37568 on K1 was seen departing Norwich eastbound at 10.20 on time but full and with about 35 passengers left behind. Thursday marked the return to service of 37563 on K2 and 37577 was also back on K1. Y13 swapped vehicles at some stage, beginning the day with 37576 and ending it with 37574. 30887 was the 101. The new arrangement at Peterborough rail station is reported as being very tight and the kerb seems to be suffering !

The 21.35 King's Lynn to Lowestoft (37579) passes 37571 arriving as the 18.48 Lowestoft - Peterborough on the longest day of the year. [Southgates Webcam]

Friday 22nd saw an early morning emergency move. 37573 expired at Acle on Y13 with a suspected ECU fault and Richard T dashed over with 37157 as replacement so that the service could continue. 37571 then took Y13 forward from Lynn. 37563 was in the wars again losing its T side advert board while working L8 tonight - high winds are thought to be the reason. 37579 worked L8 forward to Lowestoft at 21.35. Marcus reports seeing old X1 regular Scania 65577 working westbound this morning at Thorney - it was en route from Norwich to Northampton.

37578 arrives in Wisbech with K4 11.55 Lowestoft - Peterborough on Saturday.

Incredibly Saturday saw 37563 in trouble again on K19 - this time it sustained some slight side damage and was replaced by 37158. 37568 was taken off K4 for work on its MOT to commence  and it was replaced by 37578. 37156 arrived in Lowestoft 13 late on K1 and was 4 late departing as the 11.55 to Peterborough. The rarest sight on Sunday was that of 37159 on the 11.20 Lowestoft - Norwich X2 - a long time since we have had a report of a Gemini on this service. Malcolm also saw another 'off route' Gemini, 36180 which was sharing airshow park and ride duties with 32209 and 32655.

X1 Bus Diagrams & Codes

Several people have asked me lately again about the code numbers I use to identify the 19 different bus turns used on the X1. Basically they are very similar to the official codes which are numbered XL01 - XL19, but the advantage of mine is that the prefix letter denotes the depot where a diagram has begun the day, K for King's Lynn, L for Lowestoft and Y for Great Yarmouth.

XL01 - XL06 are my K14 - K19 and XL07 - XL19 are K1 - Y13 in my system. There are also drivers diagrams (numbered 7101 upwards) which differ from the bus turns, as these allow for breaks and changeovers. Generally speaking the King's Lynn to Peterborough section is worked by King's Lynn drivers except Y9, K16 and K18 which are operated by Yarmouth and a solitary turn for a Lowestoft driver to Peterborough on K14. The weekday service uses approximately 37 drivers from the three depots excluding the short turns at the eastern end.

Here is a rather psychadelic version of the long distance weekday diagrams with the short turns omitted.

The weekday turns have remained largely unchanged since 2009, although L8 and L10 now start at Lowestoft instead of running light to the James Paget Hospital. The colours indicate which depot a vehicle is garaged at.

The longest drivers diagram at just under 12 hours including breaks does K18 from Lynn to Lowestoft, K1 Lowestoft - Lynn, K3 Lynn - Peterborough and then back to Lynn. 

The Saturday turns are a little different and L12 is just an out and back from Lowestoft and the bus then does 17.25 Lowestoft - Yarmouth X1 short. There are other subtle differences with K1 starting at Wisbech and at the end of the day diagrams change to account for L12 not returning to Lynn. 

So to complete the diagrams here are Sundays - much simpler of course and only requiring ten buses instead of nineteen. All turns west of Lynn are operated by their drivers except K2 14.50 departure which is part of a very long turn for a Lowestoft driver. Yarmouth have no turns on the western section on Sundays. Twenty drivers are required to work the Sunday service which also applies on Bank Holiday excepting Dec25/26 and Jan 1.

Sorry that you need a magnifier for that one !

Wednesday 13th June - Sunday 17th June 2012 ~ New Bus Talk

34186 seen on an X1 short in Acle on 11th June.  Photo : Joe Watson /NBP

As the Olympics get nearer, more and more people are emailing or asking me about new buses for the X1. The rumour was that new vehicles would come after being used for the Games, but I am none the wiser up to now. How much longer the Geminis can keep going is debatable, but it seems certain that internal refurbishment will be required before the engines give up, as the Volvo units seem to go on forever.
The last few days has seen a continuation of recent times, with the 22 Geminis keeping the service going.
On Wednesday, 37563 was in trouble - it had been examined because it seemed to be losing power and after no obvious faults were found it was turned out on K4. This afternoon it expired at Easton. It managed to limp to the Park & Ride site at Costessey and was then sent to the Volvo workshops in Norwich for attention. From what I can gather, K4 restarted at Swaffham with 37573 at 16.07 and this was 18 late through Walpole. 37567 was the other Gemini rested today with 37566 having its MOT tomorrow.  An unusual sight at Lowestoft was X2 vehicle 32656 being utilised on the 101 town service.
Thursday saw 37563 back at Lynn, it is to be given a long road test before it returns to service. A data link fault is thought to be the cause of its ailments (whatever that is !).
Both 37158 and now 37157 are suffering from noisy fans again, 157 was used on L11 today and was 9 late passing Bruce going to Peterborough and 15 late coming back. Timekeeping was pretty good otherwise. Items of interest viewed on the Southgates webcam included L10 leaving Vancouver Avenue after a vehicle change at 13.13 on the 13.02 Lynn - Lowestoft. 37568 had been replaced by 37574, while at 13.54 two X1s were seen departing simultaneously with 37156 on L11 13.32 Lynn - Lowestoft (about 17 late) heading east and 37570 on K17 just 4 late going to Peterborough. In Lowestoft it was the turn of 32655 to deputise on the 101 town service and Malcolm thinks a shortage of Darts is the reason.
Friday had some hit and miss timekeeping. 37160 was seen leaving the Southgate driver change at 13.10 to Lowestoft on Y9 (due 12.37, so some 33 minutes late). L10 was not far behind it and set out at 13.22 - about 15 late with 37564. 37577 on K15 was taken out of service at Lynn at 12.45 to be replaced by 37579. 577 needed servicing and attention to its upper deck windscreen. One service definitely not affected by today's delays was K1 which was bang on time into King's Lynn for the 15.15 to Peterborough and similarly punctual departing back to Lowestoft at 18.02 with 37570.

The current situation at Peterborough rail station - even the large puddle seems to have been eradicated by resurfacing. Photo P Risebrow

On Saturday, an accident on the A47 at East Winch at lunchtime caused disruption to what otherwise was a fairly good day for timekeeping. 37574 on K14 was the first eastbound service delayed. It was seen returninf grom Peterborough mid afternoon running over 30 late with K15 a couple of minutes behind it. Des Speed says "I was on 37571 (L9) and this bus was on time out of Yarmouth at 15.00 to Lowestoft and then departing westbound at 15.55. however, the previous two buses were running together approx 45 & 15 late (this would have been 37573 on Y7 and 37569 on L8). Similarly, the buses following me were out of course with  Y10 being 10 late and L11 35 late. Two vehicles collided at East Winch just after 11.30 and both lanes were closed for a while causing lengthy tailbacks. Meanwhile at Norwich bus station, a water leak caused the closure of the information centre, cafe and toilets while the cause is investigated". Malcolm Hicks reports 30887 on service 101 in Lowestoft today.
Sunday saw nothing unusual X1 wise but it was the EATM open day at Carlton Colville where it was nice to catch up with some familiar faces.

37573 at Lowestoft today after working K6 and before taking Service 1 to Martham. Photo : K Smith

One of the exhibits at the EATM today with a rather unusual destination ! Photo : K Smith

Sunday June 3rd - Tuesday June 12th 2012 ~ The Holiday Season

Three days of Sunday timetable commenced on 3rd with the next two days being the Jubilee Bank Holiday. I was away from 8th - 12th so am trying to make some sense out of your reports and sightings for which many thanks.
During the Sunday service days there were a couple of incidents. Firstly on Sunday 3rd, 37568 was taken off its duty because of a fault with its security cameras and 37157 took over commencing with the 17.50 King's Lynn - Peterborough. Later in the evening, K1 had 37570 swapped for 37573, the latter working the 19.48 ex Lowestoft back to Lynn.
Monday 4th saw a very unusual incident - a breakdown. Instances of X1 buses becoming marooned are extremely rare, but the 12.19 from Peterborough had this misfortune with 37576 coming to a halt at Walton Highway with a failed water pump. The powers that be were on the spot very promptly and the service was able to continue with 37578 just 28 minutes late. The problems with 37576 continued as no sooner had the pump been replaced then its starter motor gave up, eventually the bus was able to return to Lynn garage under its own steam after nearly six hours had elapsed. Holiday traffic delayed a few services today such as 37577 on the 13.50 King's Lynn - Peterborough which was 23 late passing Bruce at Walpole Highway.
The failure of 37576 was soon forgotten on Tuesday when it was out all day without any problems. Wednesday 6th saw a return to normal weekday service with one swap reported, 37577 being changed for 37563 on K14. Many services ran late, presumably because of the heavier than normal traffic. 37157 on L11 was just about the worst affected being 28 late returning through Walpole just after half past one.

Kieran Smith says "Thought I'd send you some more pix for the blog - here is 37563 in Norwich with Y13 08.15 Lowestoft - Peterborough 7/6/12". Nice picture Kieran and isn't that Des Speed in the driving seat ?

X1 driver John Frangou is also used to appearing in the X1 blog ! Here he is at the helm of 37570 on K19 07.21 Wisbech - Lowestoft. Photo : Kieran Smith

Reminding us of old times, here is 20102 on an X1 short to Great Yarmouth [K.Smith]

 On Thursday 7th K3 had 37571 replaced by 37157 and it is believed that K18 began with 37575 and ended up with 37160, all to facilitate maintenance commitments.
Friday saw 37566 stopped for a start on its MOT prep and 37570 came off K14 for 37575. K16 with 37157 was seen heading down the Wisbech bypass 'not in service' at 16.09, so running approx 43 minutes late. Palatine 34155 worked the 14.38 X2 on Saturday and regular appearances by the type continue.

Y10 11.44 Peterborough - Lowestoft at Norwich this Saturday afternoon with B7 Gemini 37158, one of several X1 buses currently advertising courses at the College of West Anglia. Photo : Kieran Smith

Observations for Saturday & Sunday are not 100% complete, but Monday seems to have passed without any changes, 37563/66/70 being the three buses rested. Both 30886/9 were seen on the X2 by Malcolm Hicks. Roadworks in Wisbech - yes more ! - saw the Horsefair roundabout reduced to a single line for road painting, resulting in long queues today.
Tuesday 12th saw 37563 have another day off due to 'loss of power' and 37571 started the day on K5, but then went into Vancouver Avenue for a windscreen replacement with 37157 working the 10.32 to Lowestoft instead. Later on, 37571 was back on the road replacing 37572 on K15. There were delays on both X routes into Lowestoft today, Malcolm saw 32656 on the 10.08 Norwich bound X2 departing 11 late and this afternoon 30889 on the 15.03 service was 14 late leaving with 37564 on L8 also 14 late arriving.

Wednesday May 30th - Saturday June 2nd 2012 ~ A Bank Holiday Beckons

The usual deterioration in timekeeping occurred as the Bank Holiday getaway got nearer, Wednesday 30th was still reasonable though and apart from K16 being 15 late into King's Lynn from the coast with 37157, everything else seemed fairly punctual. At 20.00 Churchill Road in Wisbech was closed to southbound traffic, so L10 with 37566 departed at 20.22 via Freedom Bridge and Wisbech St. Mary. Further to Malcolm's sighting of 20109, Ryan says he is being trained on the coach in order that he can attend any breakdowns - he is employed at Yarmouth garage and has been training between Lowestoft and Norwich. Palatine 34156 was out on the X2 being seen by Malcolm Hicks on the 15.03 departure to Norwich. Roadworks on St. Stephens roundabout in Norwich with reduced access to one lane as well as emergency roadworks on Chapelfield Road caused some delays this morning. Work to repair a water main was due to be carried out here overnight.

On Thursday (31st) Peter reported Y6 08.15 King's Lynn - Peterborough running 15 late from Wisbech with 37564. He had to dash over to the station for his train as the forecourt here is still in disarray and the reopening to X1 services has now been delayed until June 7th. In the afternoon K2 was delayed and was seen by Bruce with 37573 running along the eastern section of the Wisbech bypass instead of through Walsoken. At this point it was nearly 30 late, but some smart working saw it later leave the Southgates for Lowestoft at 18.45, only about 5 late. Des encountered delays today. In charge of 37159 on the 14.20 Southgates to Peterborough (K18), departure was at 14.34 and queuing in and out of Wisbech saw a 28 minute late arrival into Peterborough. The return trip departed Peterborough Queensgate at 16.00 instead of 15.44 and further delays around Wisbech saw a Southgates handover on the inward at 17.21 (about 32 late). His  journey back east was on K1 18.02 to Yarmouth which was 5 late departing and on time by Dereham.
Friday 1st June saw the exodus to the coast and the consequent detrimental effect on timekeeping as we expected. It was after lunch when this hit hard. Bruce saw K18 14.15 ex King's Lynn to Peterborough slip by with 37157 19 late and going east, 37565 on K14 13.44 from Peterborough was 26 late through Walpole. K19 with 37570 was only 5 late however, but late afternoon saw more delays. Y6 17.45 King's Lynn to Peterborough was seen 25 late at Terrington St. John and I met K5 18.44 from Peterborough with 37579 at Tilney flyover running exactly 30 late which was all the more unusual as the driver Malcolm Wallace is normally renowned for smart timekeeping. Y6 was not far behind having made up ground and now only 7 late. All this was because of delays on the A47 and I think these services ran via Wisbech St. Mary. K4 16.45 King's Lynn to Peterborough and 18.14 return failed to run - presumably due to a driver shortage - and 37568 spent a couple of hours or so in Vancouver Avenue instead before resuming the turn at 19.35 to Lowestoft.
37158 was out of action with a CCTV problem and 37572 has not worked since Monday and is having a major service and wheels changed - it is of course, the highest mileage of our B9s.
Saturday 2nd June marked the start of the Jubilee holiday and was the last day of a full X1 service until Wednesday. Once again acute congestion on the A47 resulted in some afternoon services running via Wisbech St. Mary and I met K16 13.15 King's Lynn to Peterborough coming into Wisbech 24 late with the luckless 37579. Y13 had 37568 removed in favour of 37574 at some point today. This swap may have contributed to delays as at 16.35 37571 on K14 was seen at the Newmarket Road roundabout with the ring road in Norwich with 37574 on Y13 behind showing 'not in service' but with passengers on board. Cheryl was having a camping weekend at Foulsham, but had to pop into Dereham for more beer vouchers and reported 37564 on K2 roughly on time just before 3pm.
An old friend of the blog, Jamie Vendy was back in touch today, he says "Paid a visit down to the coast yesterday via East Coast from Doncaster and East Midland Trains from Peterborough.

The X1's coming into Norwich from Peterborough were very full and virtually unloading all their passengers at Norwich then refilling with a full compliment of passengers for Yarmouth. Obviously 78 passengers disembarking and then boarding takes a considerable time and being 10 late on arrival, the delay had extended to 15 minutes upon departure. This was 37569 by the way on the 11.50 departure (K4). Despite the traffic we did make up some time by the time we arrived at Yarmouth. Here I saw 37156 in its freshened up Excel livery and I think the other B7s ought to get this treatment too. Next I took the 14.00 to Lowestoft with Des Speed driving - this service was already 30 minutes late but the journey was very pleasant and smooth. In my opinion, the B7s give a smoother, more comfortable ride that the B9s and I also think they are a better looking design". Well thanks Jamie for that, good to hear from you again and here are a couple of those pictures :

37156 on K3 12.55 Lowestoft - Peterborough today. [Jamie Vendy]

You see good X1 drivers even smile when they are running late ! 37157 on Y7 14.55 Lowestoft - Peterborough soon after departure today [J Vendy]

Des says "Yes 30 late from Yarmouth on the 14.00 departure from Yarmouth to Lowestoft (Y7), but cut to 24 late arriving at our destination. I then left 12 late on the 14.55 to Lynn (above) and with traffic and loadings was disappointed to be still 6 late arriving.".

Thursday May 24th - Tuesday May 29th 2012 ~ Displays Again

Now that's just silly !! Photo DS

Thursday 24th May.
I was reminded tonight that on Sunday evening last I had viewed the last westbound service at Walton Highway. 37572 was the bus which loomed out of the darkness proclaiming 'Contract' on the front once again. Attempts have been made this week to exorcise the demons which have caused the malfunctioning destination screen  and tonight I followed 572 home on K19 noticing that its display has been reset to the narrow font which has been absent from the fleet for a while now.
Malcolm had a day out on the X1 and managed to spot every turn apart from Y13 which was 37577 and K14 which had 37570.
Cheryl reports that teatime services were using the Wisbech St. Mary route from Guyhirn following another A47 incident.



Friday 25th May

The rather serious message from the NHS is currently adorning the rears of many of the X1 fleet.

37157 with an advert for an old favourite !

Des informs me that the work at Peterborough rail station which was due to end on 22nd May has now been put back to 31st ! He took L10 13.02 King's Lynn - Lowestoft forward from the Southgates changeover today departing 11 late with 37574 with a slight improvement en route taking him into Lowestoft 8 minutes late. Bruce says "Thought I heard a tractor earlier, but it turned out to be 37158 on Y7 with a very noisy fan".

Saturday 26th May


Well it was such a glorious day that I was able to nip out from my duties as Mum carer to get a few pix for the blog :

During the next week or so 37563 will pass the 400,000 mile mark on the X1. Here it leaves Walpole Highway on K15 09.25 Lowestoft - Peterborough today.

37575 heads for King's Lynn near Faulkner's Tunnel this morning on L11.

37156 pretending to be a B9 takes K16 through Walpole this afternoon.

Heading back east on the 14.35 from Peterborough, this view shows the way the revised paint scheme has been applied to the rear of the B7.

More delays on the route today, Mr. Speed was on Y10 westbound with 37568 on time (yes honestly) and returned east in charge of 37159 on Y7 which was 23 late from the Southgates and 18 late into Yarmouth. a good effort to regain time in view of the fact it was a Saturday. News of Y7s delay had already been relayed to me by Bruce who texted saying "37159 on Y7 just gone by at 11.33 (27 late) with 37565 on L8 just 12 minutes behind".

Dave Hodkinson says "I had my first experience of the X1 service on Saturday evening with a mate of mine. We ended up at Yarmouth station off the 1450 duff from Norwich, picked up his car, left it at the B and B and walked to Acle station for the 1728 to Norwich. After some time the signaller advised that all trains were caped due to signalling problems, however, a quick walk to the bus stop revealed a 1757 X1 'fast' to Naaridge bus stn. I have to say that's about as far as I would want to go on a Gemini : what a rancid slow bus, and no air conditioning either! For the record it was 37575". 

Now before you all think that Dave's report amounts to a slagging off, let me explain that this is Dave in genteel mode and this is actually an endorsement of the service. Now had he been in a bad mood.........
Anyway, he did manage to take a pic for us, though I have to confess I find the destination a little confusing - why was 575 only going as far as Norwich (it was supposed to be working L11 through to Lynn) ?

Sunday 27th May

37572 with its narrow font destination display reinstated passing Boskoop Farm this afternoon on the 13.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft.

Kieran says Dereham Market Place will be closed for a Jubilee party next Sunday with X1s stopping near the roundabout instead. 37160 enjoyed a third succesive day in King's Lynn garage and both 37566 & 37570 were off the road for servicing this weekend. Today's service was a succession of B9 Geminis.

Monday 28th May

Malcolm Hicks reports former X1 B10M Premiere coach 20109 on driver training duties in Lowestoft today.
Victor Meldrew has been let loose at the computer again and writes
"Dear Mr Fletcher,

How about some of these new Norfolk Green double deckers for X1?.... "under-seat mood lighting and new comfy seating" - someone should tell First Group that such buses exist!

http://www.norfolkgreen.co.uk/news/index.aspx

I was going to suggest we get Mr Coulson to take over the X1 service and equip it with his excellent new vehicles, but spotted a couple of problems....

- we wouldn't get to experience the "mood lighting" as Norfolk Green seems to stop operating most services mid-afternoon!

- Norfolk Green probably don't issue VIP passes (lol)

On a more serious note, it's good to see that Norfolk Green's timetabled stops are updated more frequently than First Group's. On the NG56 timetable they very quickly renamed their stop "Elm High Road for Morrisons", whereas about 10 years after the closure of the local 'restaurant', First Group still insist on calling their Guyhirn stop "Guyhirn Little Chef"!

I can understand they might not want to call it "Guyhirn Sex Shop" but something like "Guyhirn A47 Shell Garage" might be a little more up-to-date / helpful?"
Victor Meldrew

Well he's certainly out to ruffle a few feathers I reckon ! Now as it happens Victor, I have it on good authority (ok - rumour actually) that the X1 WILL be receiving new buses after the Olympics with upgraded facilities, so just hold your horses. As for Norfolk Green and evening services, why only tonight I saw one of their ex Reading double deckers heading out on the 505 at 19.45, mind you it was only going as far as Holbeach, so let's be fair shall we ?

Tuesday 29th May

Peter says " Out on the X1 this morning with the 08.18 Wisbech - Peterborough (K5). It's 37157 with a very polite driver but with the heating on full blast !". Gosh Peter you are almost as bad as Victor !! Now if you'd checked your blog history, you would realise that 37157 is the one bus which provides heat at any time of year - even in the Winter. L11 was running late this morning with 37158 - on its way back from Peterborough it was away from the Southgates driver change at 13.53 - about 16 late. 37570 enjoyed a fourth day on the trot resting at King's Lynn garage.