Monday November 19th - Sunday November 25th 2012 ~ The Census !

A fairly typical week on the X1 with nothing ground breaking happening - unless you know different !
Monday 19th was my day off, but Bruce kept a look out and the service seemed to run well. Sidelined buses were 37156 (ABS fault), 37569 (whellhub and panels) and 37564 (safety service and gearbox fault). This meant everything else had to behave and it looks like that's what happened.
Tuesday was one of those dark dismal days which have been prevalent lately. Punctuality was sporadic with some services running up to 10 minutes late and with Y6-XL12 05.50 from Great Yarmouth (37572) seen leaving Wisbech 16 late westbound and 10 late returning, while the afternoon's poor performer was K17-XL04 13.45 King's Lynn - Peterborough which was 16 late with 37579. At Lowestoft K15-XL02 was seen arriving by Malcolm 20 late with 37570 and this then departed 12 late westbound.
 I had to go to Peterborough myself this afternoon, so took the X1 (why would anyone take the car I sometimes wonder). 37575 was my transport on K19-XL06 which ran pretty close to time and I came back on K2-XL08 with 37563 - I had expected 37573 but this had been changed at Lynn to fit in servicing requirements. I timed the journey back out of interest to see how the bus fared in the evening peak. We were dead on time away from Queensgate at 17.19 and left the City via Bourges Boulevard and the northern bypass. This was a good move since I had arrived via the Boongate route where temporary lights were in operation for roadworks and this would have caused a lot of congestion in the peak. Nothing untoward hindered us greatly with just the usual rush hour traffic one would expect at 17.30 and we joined the alternative route at Eye in 11 minutes from the bus station. We did however, totter along between the roundabouts from Eye to Eye Green and this short section took us 3.5 minutes.
 Our arrival at Thorney was in a few seconds under 20 minutes, so the peak time traffic had succeeded in us losing 5 minutes on the schedule. Stops at Thorney School, Thorney Toll and Guyhirn to deposit passengers didn't lose us any more time and we were still 5 down from Guyhirn. An average run down the A47 and through the outskirts of Wisbech saw us arrive in the bus station in 43'17" from Peterborough - the booked time is 37", so a loss of just over 6 minutes on the timetable about which there was nothing whatsoever the driver or the capabilities of the bus could have done to improve. 37156 was back on the road today on K3-XL09 after its recent misdemeanours.

37157 ready to be washed after another filthy day on the A47

There seems to be at least one day each week where the A47 grinds to a halt due to either accidents or roadworks, but on Wednesday morning it was the fault of Norfolk County Council who had acted on someones bright idea to carry out a traffic census on the eastern approaches to Norwich. All manner of chaos resulted with queues of 50 minutes being reported at one stage until the census was abandoned. Naturally the X1 service was embroiled in all this, but the powers that be kept calm and minimum effects were felt at the western end of the route. My observations coupled with those by Bruce, show that the first service delayed was Y9-XL15 with 37158 - this departed from Wisbech heavily loaded running 32 minutes late - the obvious thing for the operators to do was to then run this service as L10-XL16 and this they duly did. The bus which had come in to King's Lynn on L10 was then terminated and kept to work Y9 back eastbound at 12.32 - 'simples' as our friends the meerkats would say. Delays began to accumulate at Lowestoft too, noted by Malcolm Hicks were 37567 leaving 10 late on K15-XL02 then K16-XL03 arriving 18 late with 37573 and this left 15 late to Peterborough on the 09.55. K17 arrived with 37575 'not in service' at 10.27 to work the 10.25 departure. Elsewhere on the route, K4-XL10 08.35 from Peterborough was delayed en route and came into Wisbech 22 late with 37569 and later 37572 on L12-XL18 was 14 late going west. K16-XL03 was 37573 13 late westbound but things then settled down. 37565 on K3-XL09 16.15 from King's Lynn was seen at Walsoken running exactly 30 late followed by K4-XL10 and 37569 which had recouped most of its morning loss, now 7 late. Earlier 37574 on K17-XL04 had come to a halt in Dereham with a water leak and 37575 was sent out to take over. A tacho fault on 37576 saw it make an early morning trip to Volvo at Norwich for rectification.
This evening I travelled from Walpole to King's Lynn on 37569, now back on time. Returning I boarded L10-XL16 -still with 37158 from the morning's swap and departing South Gates spot on time, we then diverted into Vancouver Avenue garage for fuel. This cost us about 4 minutes but our driver seemed intent on doing what he could with 37158 to make up (or at least lose no more) time. It was pleasantly warm on 37158 in contrast to the damp interior of 37569.
Thursday was much better for timekeeping and only two of the 19 turns seen were running appreciably late. L11-XL17 with 37579 was 15 late on the 11.18 Wisbech - Peterborough and later 37564 on the 14.18 (K17-XL04) passed me 19 late. 37159 was removed from Y9-XL15 with a fault this morning and 37565 replaced it, while K16-XL03 had a lunchtime swap at Lynn with 37574 replacing 37575,  but otherwise things ran well.
Roadworks on the King's Lynn bypass saw one carriageway reduced to a single lane on Friday and the Southgates webcam revealed L11-XL17 with 37158 emerging from the South Lynn exit onto the roundabout having taken this route to avoid the delays. It was seen at 13.32, the time that it should have been leaving the bus station for Lowestoft. 20 minutes later, another B7 on a test run from the garage was seen arriving back via this route. 37571 came off K16 at lunchtime for servicing with 37575 replacing it. Most services ran pretty well today, but 37568 on Y13-XL19 which had been 4 late going west was delayed after this and came back into Wisbech 23 late to work the 13.56 Wisbech - Lowestoft. Similarly 37569 on K17-XL04 was 7 late going to Peterborough, but 17 late coming back and 37156 on K18-XL05 had lost the same amount of time too. A47 accidents and dismal conditions resulted in K4 with 37578 being 17 late on the 16.45 Lynn - Peterborough. There didn't appear to be any bus swaps today.
The Saturday service ran very well until late afternoon when a blip saw 37572 on K17-XL04 come into Wisbech 17 late from Peterborough and the 15.48 westbound (K1-XL07) with 37158 was 21 late. Otherwise a commendable effort by all concerned. 37159 has had to go to Volvo at Norwich after suffering engine failure and 37569 & 37571 were the two spare buses today.

37577 about to get an early bath on Sunday evening (see below)

Sunday 25th saw an unfortunate incident befall 37577 when it was working the Sunday XL01 diagram. It was the victim of a vandal attack with a rock hurled through the upper deck rear window near Dereham. Nobody was injured as luck would have it and 37570 and later 37156 took over the turn. 37579 working XL10 was seen arriving at the South Gates at 13.01. This turn is notorious for late running in from Lowestoft. It then works the 12.50 King's Lynn - Peterborough.

Have Your Say on the A47 with the EDP.

Click this link to follow the Eastern Daily Press day of monitoring the A47. You can also vote on improvements to the road.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/the_friday_debate_is_it_time_improvements_were_made_to_the_a47_through_norfolk_follow_and_join_in_with_our_coverage_of_a_day_of_campaign_action_to_get_the_issue_resolved_1_1706052

Friday November 9th - Sunday November 18th 2012 ~ Cracks Appearing ?

The past week has seen much swapping of buses chiefly due to unexpected defects, though it is fair to say that this has not had too detrimental effect on the timetable. The B9 Geminis have been incredibly reliable over the past 4 years and have exemplified the faith which First Group put in them. Nevertheless, signs of age are now beginning to appear.
Going back firstly then to Friday 9th and 37156 was in trouble on L11-XL17 when it's alternator packed up at Blofield, for a while causing an obstruction and meriting an announcement on Radio Norfolk's traffic news. 37571 was sent out as replacement and completed the turn. 37569 on K15-XL02 managed to do most of its diagram before it suffered a water leak and 37160 off K16-XL03 took over for the last leg back to King's Lynn from Lowestoft. The day's delays were up to ten minutes at times, but nothing too serious and relatively good for a Friday. 37570 was switched from Y6-XL12 to K5-XL11 to get it in the circuit for an exam at King's Lynn on Monday. 37565 took Y6 forward at 08.15 and 37571 came off K5 at 10.30. Both 37563 and 37578 had repairs completed by the Volvo man today. At Lowestoft 34155 was being used on the 09.38 X2 to Norwich.
Saturday 10th saw 37563 back in service taking Y6-XL12 forward from Lynn to Peterborough at 17.45 in place of 37574 (believed to be because of a broken window). L11-XL11 changed 37569 for 37156 at some point today. Otherwise little of note to report as was the case on Sunday.

The new week began on Monday 12th with a reasonable day for punctuality, but wet misty conditions may have contributed to an accident mid afternoon which saw some services diverted via Tilney All Saints to avoid the obstruction on the Pullover Road. K19-XL06 & 37563 and also K1-XL07 with 37579 were 12 late from Wisbech followed by K2-XL08 and 37578 running 17 late. Earlier 37568 was 10 late on K15-XL02 13.18 Wisbech - Peterborough, but made up some time and went back east only 3 late. It had obviously been delayed early on as Malcolm reports it arriving in Lowestoft 13 late before working the 09.25 to Peterborough.  A whole host of new advertisements have adorned the fleet today for the films 'Nativity 2', 'Silver Linings'. 'Alex Cross' and 'Great Expectations'.
Ironically, the latter is now on 37575 which passed me (below) running 8 late on L8-XL14 09.48 Wisbech - Peterborough following a no-show by Y7-XL13, which later came back from Peterborough as booked with 37577. Neither Bruce or myself saw it going west so I guess it must have travelled light from Lynn to Peterborough for some reason.

 Y9-XL15 came into Lynn from the east this morning with 37565 and this was changed here for 37157. Shortly afterwards though 37567 on L12-XL18 required changing as it had an adblu fault and 37565 ended up on this turn.
 Another casualty on Tuesday 13th was 37564 which came to grief in Great Yarmouth while working L10-XL16 eastbound - binding brakes caused by a seized rear caliper being the cause. This evening 37157 took its place on the 19.50 King's Lynn - Peterborough. Earlier K1-XL07 which had started out with 37566 had this replaced by 37157 commencing with the 10.02 Lynn - Lowestoft. On arrival back at Lynn at just after 16.30, 37566 was fit to resume the turn. Tuesday was a  good day for punctuality only spoilt by the B7s ! 37156 had already been delayed by heavy loadings further east when Des took it forward from King's Lynn at 09.50 as Y9-XL15. Departure was 15  minutes late and on arrival in Peterborough it went straight to the rail station to drop/ pick up. Going back east it was just 7 late from Queensgate and 5 late back into Lynn, so well done that man !
 The aforementioned  adblu fault kept 37567 out of service but it was due a safety service anyway. Both 37569 & 37577 had attention to water leaks before they could start the day on K4-XL10 and K19-XL06 respectively.The last two X1 buses to sport the controversial Stonewall advert , 37564 & 37568, both had them removed today. I say controversial as apparently according to online news sources a driver in Yorkshire refused to take a bus forward because of the ad !
 Timekeeping on Wednesday was fair, nothing in excess of 12 minutes lateness being recorded and there were no swaps which is good to report. 34155 was once again in use, this time on the 14.38 Lowestoft - Norwich X2.
So to Thursday 15th when I was away from the route working at a polling station. Bruce gave a full report and nothing untoward seems to have happened, save the no show by L10-XL16. This evening it was 37563 as booked, so not sure what happened there. K4-XL10 had 37573 for most of the day, but this evening it was in Vancouver Avenue so clearly did not work the 19.35 King's Lynn - Great Yarmouth. At Lowestoft Malcolm saw 37577 arrive 12 late on K15-XL02 and today 34155 was employed on the 09.08 X2.
Friday was hit and miss for punctuality. most services ran fairly well, the exceptions being 37577 on K5-XL11 09.05 ex Peterborough which had lost 19 minutes by Wisbech. 37160 on L11-XL17 was 14 late on the 11.18 Wisbech - Peterborough and 37564 on L12-XL18 was 22 late, reduced commendably to 15 late returning eastbound. K14-XL01 which is notorious on a Friday came through eastbound 14 late with 37567. Later in the afternoon 37159 was 18 late on K18-XL05 14.15 King's Lynn - Peterborough, 37563 13 late on K1-XL07 15.15 and 37566 13 late on K2-XL08 15.45 from Lynn. 37157 had a good day for a change - it was spot on schedule with K3-XL09 08.56 Wisbech - Lowestoft and only 4 late on the return leg this afternoon. Further east, 37572 was 20 late arriving in Lowestoft on K17-XL04 this morning, so had done well to be only 4 late when seen by me at Wisbech later on.
37156 was intended to work K5-XL11 this morning, but it was stopped with an ABS modulator fault, so 37577 deputised - possibly the reason for its lateness (see above). Later on 37563 on K1-XL07 required cleaning, so 37156 took the 18.02 King's Lynn to Great Yarmouth . A couple of accidents on route tonight meant a few turns changed buses, in addition to which, 37573 which had arrived at King's Lynn at 18.07 (Y7-XL13) was then cleaned and turned out again for the 18.50 to Peterborough (L8-XL14) in place of 37564 which had a gearbox fault.

Oh Dear ! 37156 suffered a recurrence of its ABS fault on Saturday morning, so 37579 was driven over to Great Yarmouth at some early hour, in order to work Y13-XL19. Not sure if a coach would have worked, had this movement not had taken place.

37579 dashes through Walpole Highway almost on time on Y13-XL19 this lunchtime.

37569 was in Vancouver Avenue having some panels replaced and repainted today. Timekeeping was fair, though I'm not sure if the Norwich v Manchester United match at 17.30 would have caused extra congestion this evening. By the way did I mention the score ?  :+)
Finally to Sunday then and 37572 was noted heading to Peterborough 16 late this afternoon by Bruce. 37577 on XL06 which normally works the Martham service on arrival in Lowestoft, instead came back on XL08 instead of 37565. It was a busy day for unscheduled swaps with L10-XL10 changing 37568 for 37567 this afternoon and similarly XL07 having 37578 taken off in preference to 37570.

This rather timely NHS advert is now being applied to some of our buses.

Wednesday October 31st - Thursday 8th November 2012 ~ Service Report

To begin our round-up looking at the past ten days, we start with the last day of October. Many buses ran between 5 & 10 minutes late on this date. 37565 was once again involved in diagram swaps. It started on K5-XL11 but then came off at 10.30 after just doing a Lynn to Peterborough and back. It then had another trip over this section standing in for 37577 on L12-XL18, but the latter was fit to resume the turn at 14.02 and 565 retired to Vancouver Avenue. 37571 which came into Lynn on L10-XL16 at 10.07 was then turned round to continue on K5 back east at 10.32.
Cheryl says - "Did you know that the bus ticket now has the bus fleet number on it ? This morning though, my ticket said 37570, but the bus was 37564.
Best / Worst punctuality : 37573 on L10-XL16 a few seconds early on 10.48 Wisbech - Peterborough followed later by  37565 on L12-XL18 11.18 running 11 late.
Thursday 1st November
Y6-XL12 09.35 from Peterborough came into Wisbech almost 2 minutes early this morning with 37564 and it was quite an unpredictable day for timekeeping. L12-XL18 with 37569 was 8 late from Southgates on the 11.15 King's Lynn - Peterborough, but delays en route made it 14 late from Wisbech. 37579 was back having been out of service since Sunday with a recurrence of its water system problem. It worked K3-XL09 today.
Over at Lowestoft, Malcolm reports 32651, 32654 and 34155 at the garage whilst Palatine 34156 was active on the 12.40 X2 from Norwich.
Friday 2nd November,

37577 runs into Great Yarmouth on K3-XL09 this lunchtime.  Photo courtesy of Jamie Armstrong.

I was absent today, but Bruce kept his eye on things for me. Y6-XL12 changed buses, starting out with 37578 and finishing with 37160. L8-XL14 began with 37575 and 37578 then replaced this. Des reported a slight delay at Middleton this morning after a pick up truck had embedded itself into a lamppost. 34156 was working the 14.08 X2 out of Lowestoft.
Saturday 3rd November
Surprisingly after a period of stability, 37160 on L9-XL15 failed today with an alternator fault and with 37563 (injector sleeves) and 579 (water) stopped and 37158 requiring servicing, the service appears to have been cancelled at Lynn resulting in the 15.55 Lowestoft - King's Lynn producing the rare sight of Paragon coach 20515. Another B7 in trouble today was 37157 which had a 10 minute late departure from Gorleston on Y10-XL16 07.15 to Peterborough after its offside headlight blew. The bus had to be powered down to have a replacement fitted and on powering up afterwards, the ticket machine failed and had to be removed and reset. Earlier 37571 on Y6-XL12 had arrived in Lowestoft 15 late.
Sunday 4th November
Richrd Tucker's (at times seemingly one man) crusade to maintain a low floor service on the X1 saw coach 20515 returned empty to Great Yarmouth this morning. The X1 service itself was entirely B9 Gemini worked. Norwich bus station was once again closed for roof repairs with all buses entering from Surrey Street and using bays 14 & 15 then exiting via Queens Road. This reminds me  that I recently had an email from Pat asking why the X1 doesn't exit Norwich via the railway station. I couldn't answer her but assume it is a matter of it taking longer ? Peterborough bus station also has ongoing work and from tomorrow until Saturday, the X1 is using bays 5 & 17, then the week after bays10 & 20 for alighting and boarding passengers respectively.
Monday 5th November
Better timekeeping today. 37570 worked L10-XL16 but 37158 deputised for the trip from King's Lynn to Peterborough and back. K1-XL07 had 37574 swapped for a repaired 37579 at some point. This evening there were two swaps with 37577 coming in on Y7-XL13 at 18.10 but after cleaning it took over K4-XL10 at 19.35 to Great Yarmouth in place of 37564. L11-XL17 arrived at 20.10 with 37576 and then went east with L8-XL14 21.35 to Gorleston relieving 37566.
Tuesday 6th November
"Brrr" says Cheryl, "It's 37579 this morning and it's cold !". Well certainly 37578 is having its heating looked at, so maybe 579 needs to be seen too. The timetable went out of the window at lunchtime when temporary three way lights for manhole cover work at Black Drove near Thorney caused havoc. 37156 left Wisbech 6 late on the 11.18 to Peterborough (L11-XL17) but it got caught in the congestion and eventually reappeared past me at 13.52 running 62 minutes late. Subsequent eastbound services went by me as follows : L12-XL18 37572 44 late, Y13-XL19 37576 39 late, K14-XL01 37570 33 late and K15-XL02 37571 24 late. Earlier 37566 had already been 13 late into Lowestoft on K16-XL03 06 22 from Lynn.
Des was driving K16 this afternoon and says "It all began well, with us leaving Southgates on time at 13.20. I had been instructed to travel via Whittlesey because of the A47 queues. Arrived rail station 21 late, departed bus station 15 late and back via A47 where the offending lights had just been removed. Some congestion still and departed Wisbech 24 late. Back at Southgates, my eastbound passengers were escorted over the road to catch a Lowestoft service which was just arriving. I deposited Lynn passengers at the bus station and then took 37566 to the garage".
L10-XL16 seems to have been the first service badly affected by the works and 37578 was changed for 37564 for the 13.02 Lynn to Lowestoft. 37156 looks to have stayed on L11-XL17 but L12-XL18 had 37572 changed for 37565 which came from Vancouver Avenue to Lynn bus station after an adblue fault had been remedied. 37572 must have gone through though as it worked Y13-XL19 this evening instead of 37576. K14-XL01 which should finish at Lowestoft saw 37570 come back on the last leg of K15-XL02 to Lynn instead of 37571. Meanwhile, K19-XL06 14.45 King's Lynn - Peterborough with 37567 terminated / restarted eastbound at Wisbech as it is believed that  the driver had run out of hours. For the second evening running 37577 off Y7-XL13 was required to work K4-XL10 19.35 Lynn - Lowestoft instead of 37573.
Wednesday 7th November
37563 remained off the road today awaiting injector sleeves. 37578 joined it idle with a retarder fault. Unscheduled vehicle swaps continue to occur. 37564 came off K2-XL08 today and was replaced by 37160 which has suddenly become very noisy. K16-XL03 was once again late into Lowestoft this morning with 37159 arriving 14 late.
Thursday 8th November
A quieter day with all the X1 Geminis appearing except 37563 & 37578. Y13-XL19 began with 37157 but 37567 took over at 11.45 from Lynn to Peterborough. At Lowestoft, the last of the new local liveried single deckers, 44518 entered service.

The End of an Era

'The Beast'

Very quietly, without any ceremony or fuss, an era ended this week when, after 17 years,  the very last two B10M Premiere coaches remaining in revenue earning service with First in East Anglia were withdrawn from service. With a long history of use on the X1 route and before that the X94, it is only right that we should pay tribute in the blog to their longevity and comfort.
Ironically, the last two coaches in use, 20102 and 20115 were amongst the rarest on the route over the years. 20102 had relatively recently arrived from Ipswich and was in white livery, while 20115 remained in Excel livery. Both have left Great Yarmouth, 20115 is believed to have been bought privately while 20102's fate is not definitively known - it had been out of use for a short time and whilst some reports say it has also been sold on for service, others state that it has gone for scrap.
For the record, the last use of a Premiere on the main X1 (rather than shuttles) was on April 20th when 20102 worked L12 from Lowestoft to Peterborough and back to King's Lynn where a Gemini replaced it. 20115 had worked L12 throughout on Saturday February 25th and earlier on 6th had again appeared west of Norwich. This trio of workings were the only ones reported on the Peterborough - Norwich section in 2012.
Here's a quick look at some of the B10Ms which served the route so well :

On 12th June 2007, 20105 gives way to 20101 to work the 20.42 King's Lynn - Lowestoft. 20101 new in 1995 was only pressed into use on the X1 in times of shortage as it had a faulty oil warning light and was usually to be found on the X2.

20126 after its repaint in an unorthodox version of the Excel livery - it had previously carried Barbie pink. 126 lasted into 2012 before withdrawal. March 17th 2008

20140 (left) passing 20114 at Fence Bank on August 23rd 2005

On March 2 2009, Malcolm W is at the wheel of 20118 as she approaches Walpole Highway.

April 2009 and 20127 is near Walsoken - she lasted in this livery until the end which came in August 2010. The side advertising was a recent addition.

On July 27th 2007, two Barbie liveried Premieres stand outside King's Lynn garage. In a matter of weeks 20128 was to be relegated to be a driver trainer and 20126 was soon to get a repaint into Excel livery.

20130 with 20126 behind in Wisbech Bus Station. Note the slightly different styles of repaint and logo application. 19th October 2007

July 29th 2007 and a trio of B10Ms await their next duties at King's Lynn. 20105 was withdrawn whilst at Lynn, but 20114 went to Scotland and was later sold. 20121 - an original Eastern Counties vehicle in September 1996 - also went to Scotland but was sent back and performed more useful X1 work until a car ploughed into the back of it causing its final demise.

On June 4th 2007 20141 was photographed with some temporary bumper panels in place. This vehicle has recently been back in service with Emblings of Guyhirn.

1st March 2008 and locally registered 20120 gets away from Hardwick roundabout on its first journey following a period out of service. It lasted until the end of August 2008 when it was withdrawn following crankshaft failure.

The comfortable interior of 20118. 

23rd October - 30th October 2012 ~ Positive Signs

Peter writes : "Hi Gerard, I read recently that your friend Victor Meldrew had complained to Peterborough City Council on a number of occasions about the lack of bus information at Peterborough Railway Station following the multi-million pound refurbishment.

At the time I did think "What a moaning old geezer" but it seems like he's had some success. I think a poster in the (still empty) poster case would have sufficed, but the Council and/or East Coast have gone completely overboard and provided a 32" LCD screen exclusively for X1 !

It's not "real time" though, as the 1635 departure disappeared from the screen at 1636 despite the bus not appearing until 1645 (oh dear, I'm beginning to sound like Mr Meldrew!) 

Peter

Hmmm , well it had all gone fairly quiet lately, so I had wondered if our old friend (surely not ?) Victor had may be passed on to another planet where all public transport ran like a dream, when along comes another missive :

Dear Mr Fletcher

I was about to write to write to you to tell you how happy I was (there's a change - Ed) that a new information screen has now been provided at Peterborough railway station, when I tried printing the new X1 timetable. Please see my attachments - the first page printed fine, but every page after that was printed in some sort of hieroglyphic code!

 I thought that perhaps it was my printer or computer so I tried it on a different printer and computer but with the same result. Do you realise how much it costs to print 16 colour pages with the price of ink these days?! Please have a word with your friends at First Group and get them to sort out their website.

Yours

Victor Meldrew

Oh well you can't please all the people all the time and you can't please Victor at any time ! Now the first reported appearance of one of the new Paragons on an X1 shuttle occurred on the 22nd when Kieran Smith saw 20515 in service along with veteran B10M 20115. Kieran adds " These shuttles arrive in Norwich bus station from the Queens Road end and depart via Surrey Street exit to reach Bracondale".

On Tuesday 23rd, alll went well until L11-XL17 10.45 King's Lynn - Peterborough which appeared 30 minutes late through Wisbech  with 37158. The services either side ran on time, so the reason for the delay to L11 was not clear. K15-XL02 with 37565 had an adblu sensor fault and was replaced by 37576. At Lowestoft 37570 on K16-XL03was seen arriving 15 late this morning by Malcolm, but this had all been regained by the time it passed me at 13.50. On Wednesday 37564 was taken out of traffic for attention to its injector sleeves and with 37579 still awaiting MOT, this left just one spare bus. First change of vehicle was on K5-XL11 when at 10.32 37160 was relieved by 37156. 37570 on L12-XL18 was unable to continue from King's Lynn to Peterborough at 11.15, so 37160 was summoned to do the Peterborough leg and 37570 was fit again to work to Lowestoft at 14.02. 37563 on K14-XL01 was removed at 15.00 and 37160 then continued its day as the 15.02 to Lowestoft. Most services were a few minutes late, but nothing in excess of 10 minutes was recorded. Remarkably 37157 on Y9-XL15 left Wisbech 4 late on the 10.18 to Peterborough, but returned a few seconds early just before 11.50. On Thursday, morning services in the west suffered minor delays. Temporary traffic lights at the entrance to Wisbech Horsefair bus station and also on Nene Quay didn't help matters. By the afternoon things had improved although an accident at North Tuddenham caused tailbacks for westbound services. 37575 on K5-XL11 was halted at Eau Brink at 17.30 with a snapped alternator belt, so 37576 went out to replace it. After completing K5, 37576 then replaced 37571 on Y6-XL12, the 20.35 to Great Yarmouth. 37579 was back on the road after a morning MOT replacing 37565 on  K15-XL02 12.45 King's Lynn - Peterborough etc. At Lowestoft 37159 was seen on Y7-XL13 and L8-XL14 was also, most unusually, a B7 with 37158 and this arrived 17 late.37157 on K18-XL05 departed Lynn 5 late on the 17.02 to Yarmouth and arrived here 14 late due to traffic conditions.

Friday 26th saw 37574 on L8-XL14 in trouble at Peterborough with a water leak. 37565 took the 10.35 to Lowestoft forward, starting at either Wisbech or Lynn. Punctuality was average with a poor spell at lunchtime when K15-XL02 (37566) was 15 late in both directions through Wisbech and Y13-XL19 13.05 ex Peterborough (37567) passed through eastbound 19  late. 37571/8 were undergoing safety services at Vancouver Avenue. 37158 was losing time again, this time on Y9-XL15 - it was 20 late arriving at Lowestoft and 10 late departing westbound. 37157 on Y7-XL13 was also an offender today, 19 late into King's Lynn from Lowestoft at 18.26, not helped by an 8 minute delay waiting to exit Hockering back onto the A47.  Three Enviro 200 single deckers with Lowestoft branding entered service here today on locals. Noted were 45117/8/9.

On to Saturday and I had a journey to the Midlands to watch Aston Villa v. Norwich. I passed K4-XL10 in both directions with 37578, as well as a few others. Services ran reasonably and the only swap was on K18-XL05 which exchanged 37156 for 37159 this afternoon. 37567 & 37159 required replacement windscreens. 

Kieran Smith has kindly provided us with some pictures taken today :

37158 at Norwich on K1-XL07. This diagram is only allocated a B7 on Saturdays when it terminates at Lowestoft. [K.Smith]

37572, still with 'Savages' advert heads for Peterborough on K14-XL01 08.55 from Lowestoft [K. Smith]

Remember these ? Well 60814 was one of the vehicles in use on X1 shuttles today. Many thanks to Kieran for the photographs. 

On Sunday 37579 once again had water problems and 37571 replaced it. The half term week began with lighter traffic and 37565 on Y6-XL12 09.35 from Peterborough came into Wisbech at 10.18 (2 minutes early) which is possibly a record. A trio of B7s mid morning saw 37157/9/8 appearing on Y9-XL15, L10-XL16 & L11-XL17. Y9 was 21 late going east, while L10 was just 3 late and L11 14 late westbound. These were the worst delays I noted but Des adds "An RTA at Guyhirn caused problems and the Acle Straight was closed by a similar incident from 14.00 - 22.00, I was supposed to drive 37159 on L10-XL16, but this was 30 late, so instead when 37158 came in empty to Vancouver Avenue at 13.55 having been on L11-XL17, I took this instead going light to Norwich arriving at 15.05. Here Y9-XL15 was just departing, so after consultation with Lynn control I went light via the A146 to Lowestoft to form Y9's return working at 15.55. 37157 meanwhile was seen in Gorleston by now running a whopping 95 late !"

To bring us up to date, Tuesday October 30th was an A47 day with broken down vehicles at Guyhirn and Blofield causing delays. 37158 on K5-XL11 09.05 Peterborough - Lowestoft came into Wisbech 17 late and was 24 late from Lynn eastbound  Y6-XL12 may have travelled via Wisbech St. Mary as it was not noted on the usual route. There was quite a business this morning when 37159 failed en route on K16-XL03 - it is believed to have had a faulty drivers seatbelt. 37157 and 37565 were despatched from King's Lynn and 37159 was seen in a layby near the Mattishal turn by Nick Youngman. 37565 eventually took over K16 and was seen by Malcolm departing Lowestoft 17 late on the 09.55 to Peterborough. 37159's ailment was sufficiently trivial to enable it to resume working K16 at 13.15 from King's Lynn. 37565 was later seen on K3-XL09 having relieved 37567. Malcolm also reports Y7-XL13 with 37576 arriving at Lowestoft 22 late, having been only 6 late when seen at Wisbech. X2s were also delayed today typified by Palatine 34156 arriving 22 late on the 13.10 from Norwich. The following service was only 5 late, remarkably with another veteran, 34155. Another smart new arrival 44928 was seen on town services today.

16th - 22nd October 2012 ~ Piling on the Miles

The very first advert to be fitted to an X1 Gemini was for the 22nd Bond film Quantum of Solace back on November 13th 2008. Now four years on it's time for  the 23rd title seen adorning 37566 here.

With X1 vehicles due for replacement next year, it will be interesting to see if any of the present fleet notch up half a million miles. This will depend on when the new buses arrive - when the 17 X1 liveried Geminis arrived, it wasn't until October and if this is replicated, several will easily pass this mileage.
As it stands the mileage table is headed by 37572 which has amassed over 470,000 miles. Several of its original King's Lynn stablemates are hot on its heels, closest being 37579 on almost 469k. This is followed by : 37575 464k, 37578 & 37574 463k and 37573 462k. Next comes the highest mileage of the former Lowestoft allocation, this honour belonging to 37567 which has done 458k. The remainder are as follows :

37570 458k
37565 449k
37568 448k
37576 447k
37569 444k
37563 436k
37564 434k
37577 423k
37566 420k
37157 398k
37160 390k
37158 374k
37159 366k
37156 362k
37571 318k

These are thousands in miles, not kilometres. For those of you not quite as obsessed by figures as me, I ought to point out that 37572 has travelled 756k kilometres ! 37571 was the bus involved in the Thorney accident hence its low mileage - it was off the road for 15 months and was given a new cab already fitted with a speedo reading 31,000 more than that actually travelled by 37571, so this adjustment of subtracting 31,000 from the actual reading has to be made to obtain an accurate figure. It is also quite amazing that 37572 has now run 50,000 miles more than 37566. The latter has always been unlucky and on its first day in service failed (24.10.08). It was on the road three weeks before 37572.
It is hardly surprising perhaps that minor ailments at last seem to be on the increase with the B9s. On the evening of Tuesday 16th 37563 failed at Thorney with a burst water pipe whilst on L8 (XL14). The turn resumed at 21.35 from King's Lynn to Gorleston JPH with 37568 which had come off K5 (XL11). 37572 & 37573 were serviced today and K1 (XL07) began with 37578 but this only managed a trip from Lynn to Peterborough and back before being replaced by 37157. At 12.15, 37579 had to be taken off K14 (XL01) with a water system fault and 37578 was fit to take over. Timekeeping was very good with only minor delays, despite roadworks with temporary lights at Necton.

Wednesday 17th was not so good for punctuality. Y6 (XL12) is normally good for timekeeping, but the last few weeks have seen a marked deterioration, presumably due to morning peak traffic in King's Lynn and Wisbech. 37568 departed 12 late from Wisbech westbound this morning at 09.00 and going east at this time was K3 (XL09) with 37574 also 10 late. By this evening a change had occurred and 37567 was on this turn. This was delayed at Walsoken by an ill passenger on the 16.15 from King's Lynn to Peterborough. Back to the morning and Y9 (XL15) with 37157 contrived to be 19 late from Wisbech on the 10.18 to Peterborough. things then reverted to timetable until K15 (XL02) 13.18 departure which left 15 late with 37577. There were a lot of swaps today. 37566 had an adblu problem whilst working K17 (XL04) and at 13.45 was replaced by Tuesday night's poorly bus 37563. K5 (XL11) had 37569 taken off at teatime for a rejuvenated 37566 to run from Lynn to Peterborough and back at 17.15. Finally Y6 (XL12) had 37568 taken off at 20.30 and 37156 went forward at 20.35 to Lowestoft.
Thursday 18th saw some services delayed, but others run on time or even slightly early ! Again Y6 (XL12) was delayed this morning and the 08.48 to Peterborough didn't get away from Wisbech until almost 09.00 with 37565. Mid morning saw a trio of B7 workings heading west. Y9 (XL15) with 37159 was 8 late, L10 (XL16) had 37158 and L11 (XL17) with 37156 passed me at 11.37, 17 late. Of the other B7s, 37157 on K16 (XL03) managed a rare on time appearance, but 37160 on K18 (XL05) came through 15 late. Traffic on the Peterborough section must have been light, 37570 on K17 (XL04) was 7 late departing Wisbech on the 14.18 westbound, but came back a minute early. Today's A47 roadworks with traffic light control were at Little Fransham.  The water system fault on 37579 saw it  being stripped down at Vancouver Avenue while 37574 joined it over the pits with an adblu fault.
Punctuality was better than the average on Friday 19th and it was not until late afternoon that delays began to build. About the worst of these was 37158 on K3 (XL09) which was 11 late into Lynn from Lowestoft to form the 16.15 to Peterborough. It was noted leaving Wisbech 15 late. 37160 had air pressure problems at Yarmouth first thing and it was eventually able to work Y9 (XL15). An accident near Thorney apparently caused delays in the early evening and 37568 on K4 (XL10) needed cleaning on arrival at Lynn, so 37567 worked forward to Lowestoft at 19.35. Christine spotted old friend coach 20115 still earning its keep on an X1 short today, seen in Norwich at 08.20.
On Saturday early morning services were on the dot. I nearly fainted with shock when K5 (XL11) 09.05 Peterborough - Lowestoft (37160) and L8 (XL14) 09.48 Wisbech - Peterborough (37567) both passed each other at the Clarkson memorial both running a minute early. Overall things seemed to run fairly well. Once again Christine noted 20115 in use on the shorts - doubtful if it will get another MOT ? 37579 will be getting an extended break from service as it is now on MOT prep. Sunday saw nothing noteworthy and Monday 22nd saw another bad start to the week for Y6 (XL12)  05.50 ex Great Yarmouth with 37569 crawling in a queue into Wisbech 15 late. K3 (XL09) going east was similarly 14 late with 37159. This was as bad as it got though and the rest of the day went quite well. 37569 had to be removed from Y6 (XL12)  tonight and 37158 off K5 (XL11) was its replacement.
Many thanks to Malcolm and Cheryl for their help this week.

7th - 15th October 2012 ~ A Service to be Proud Of

Several people have contacted me recently in praise of the X1. Steve says "Can't praise the X1 enough, I can't drive now due to a health condition and as I'd always been a car driver, I'd failed to realise what a great service the X1 gives. I'm now a regular user and suddenly, losing my ability to drive no longer seems like the end of my world". Vicky is also impressed by the service, she says " Am I the only person who has travelled all the way from Wisbech to Lowestoft ?" - well no as we have seen recently, she continues "it's a brilliant service and if they had a fan club I'd be a member". Can't be bad Vicky. Just lately punctuality and reliability has not made for an exciting blog, but at least it has been good for the passengers.

Sunday 7th
On the evening of 6th, 37157 was failed at Peterborough on Y10 (XL16) with an electrical fault. It had to be towed in by a recovery team in the early hours of Sunday. 37158 saw unusual use on Sunday - it worked Y8 (XL08 Sun) until it ws removed at King's Lynn as it required a Monday morning examination. 37566 worked the turn forward. 37564 was stopped for MOT today.

Monday 8th

37158 was released off maintenance to work K5(XL11) and it then had an extended day by replacing 37570 on L8(XL14). The reason for this change was to enable the all over rear ad (or what remained of it) to be removed. Y7(XL13) had a change of vehicle after 37573 failed at Swaffham with loss of power - a turbo intercooler pipe needed replacing. 37567 is thought to have been used to replace it. 37157 was given a clean bill of health after repairs.

Tuesday 9th

37157 was back on the road working K3(XL09) today. K18(XL05) had 37160 swapped for 37563 for servicing requirements. 37577 on K2(XL08) suffered a water leak at Wisbech just after 18.00 and 37573 worked forward from Lynn at at 18.35. Y6(XL12) with 37565 was the most delayed service noted, 12 late from Wisbech on the 08.48 to Peterborough, but just 5 late returning.

Wednesday 10th

King's Lynn garage have taken delivery of this smart dedicated fleet support van for those odd occasions when the X1 misbehaves.

Not a bad day and only one vehicle swap,  37576 coming off Y13(XL19) at 21.45 for a sister to do the final leg to Peterborough and back. Over at Lowestoft things weren't quite as good with K16(XL03) arriving 19 late and departing 10 late on the 09.55 to Peterborough, but by the time it reached me it was down to 6 late. The bus was 37158. Most services seen at Lowestoft were slightly late, 37568 on K17(XL04) was 6 late in and 37160(XL05) on K18 8 late. 37563 on Y6(XL12) this afternoon managed to be on time, but 37159 was 18 late in on Y7(XL13) and 10 late going back to King's Lynn.

Thursday 11th

37564 had its MOT this morning and was then fit to replace 37571 on K15(XL02). The other rested buses today were 37565 & 37576 for servicing. Last week Dennis Trident 33165 spent a week on the X2 on loan and today Malcolm reports 33057 in Lowestoft bus station, believed to be a new reallocation  from Norwich to replace two Darts which have gone the other way.

Friday 12th

By Friday standards, not a bad day for timekeeping. Passing Wisbech  K18(XL05) and 37159 was 14 late westbound and had made up a minute returning east to do the 16.26 to Yarmouth. K1(XL07) with 37573 was 17 late on the 15.48 to Peterborough, but everything else ran fairly well. 37576, 37578 and 37157 were the spare buses today. At Lowestoft, Malcolm viewed several services but only 37564 on K17(XL04) was behind time to the tune of 9 minutes. Des says "It was me on K18(XL05) and the catalogue of woe is as follows : 37159 departed Southgates 7 late, congestion into Wisbech departed -14, Arrived Peterborough 15.41 and explained to rail station passengers we would be going there after loading. Departed to rail station at 15.49 and left there at 15.53. 14 late from Wisbech at 16.40. Departed Lynn bus station at 17.10, just 8 late but then took 14 minutes to reach Southgates due to Friday peak traffic. My journey home was with 37573 on K1(XL07) on which we departed Southgates 14 late and never regained much time. 9 late into Great Yarmouth as a result".

Saturday 13th

I admit to seeing very little today, but my correspondents kept me posted. 37565 and 37569 swapped turns at some point today with them ending up on K14(XL01) and Y13(XL19).

Sunday 14th

A nice all B9 worked day : 37563/4/7/8/9. 37571/2/5/7/8 were in use. Brasenose Avenue in Gorleston was shut today necessitating a diversion via Middleton Road. The new X1 timetable headings all show Peterborough - Lowestoft and no westbound service, fortunately the times themselves are correct.

Monday 15th

Driver illness forced the cancellation of L12(XL18) 07.45 Lowestoft - Peterborough as far as Norwich where one of the King's Lynn controllers came to the rescue with 37157. This was later taken off the duty and was seen lurking in Vancouver Avenue at 15.30. Later passengers waiting for Y6(XL12) 17.45 King's Lynn - Peterborough were boarding 37568 when it was decided to replace it with 37566. Howard Street in Yarmouth closed for resurfacing meant more diversions and the Hardwick roundabout is once again closed to evening traffic from 20.00 until 26th.

New X1 Timetable with enhanced frequency in the East !

In addition to the daytime half hourly Lowestoft - Peterborough service, there are of course the so called X1 shorts linking Gorleston, Great Yarmouth and Norwich at peak times. Well from 14th October, these additional services are being augmented into a regular frequency timetable which will mean extra services from Yarmouth at 27 & 57 minutes past the hour and eastbound from Norwich at 10 & 40 minutes past the hour.

1st - 6th October 2012 ~ Standby Coaches

Such is the reliablilty of the X1 fleet of Geminis, coach substitutions are now almost unknown. The last one recorded on a Peterborough run was on Friday April 20th and this only reached King's Lynn from the East before being removed. and you have to go back to December 6th 2011 to find the last time a coach worked the entire route.
20102 & 20115 based at Great Yarmouth have been regulars on the X1 short runs to Norwich, but this week, the first signs of change appeared with the arrival of Paragons 20514 & 20515 from Worcester. The former was actually loaned to the X1 route in 2010 when it worked during August filling in the period between the departure of loan Gemini 37562 and the return to service of 37571 after major repairs following the Thorney accident of May 2009.
It would seem likely that the newer coaches will join the remaining B10Ms at Great Yarmouth on the shuttles. Nevertheless, the likelihood of them appearing on the X1 is minimal as has been the case with coaches all year as outlined above.
Gemini 37579 worked on 35 consecutive days up to Saturday, but such long spells in service are rare nowadays.
This week has been fairly uneventful, so another nice easy blog to write.
Monday 1st October.
This was the only day of the week where there was any significant disruption. A serious accident on the Pullover Road between Eau Brink and the Pullover (Freebridge) roundabout at around 07.50 saw the A47 closed and diversions set up, presumably through Tilney All Saints. This threw the X1 into chaos of course and the first through service from the coast, Y6-XL12 finally managed to get away from Wisbech westbound 29 minutes late with 37564 which had left Yarmouth on Y7-XL13 ! Following it were Y7 with 37577 (off Y6) 31 late, L8-XL14 with 37578 25 late, Y9-XL15 with 37160 21 late, L10-XL16 37567 14 late and L11-XL17 37158 20 late before normality returned with L12-XL18 and 37568 running on time.
Early eastbound delays included 37571/9/0 which were all observed heading east within half a mile of each other at 09.23, the first two 'not in service'. These were K1-XL07, K19-XL06 & K2-XL08 respectively.
37157 was on time on K3-XL09 from Wisbech but had lost 25 minutes by the time it passed the Southgates inbound at 09.49. K4-XL10 with 37565 similarly lost 26 minutes over the same section. Des adds "At 10.50 37566 pulled into the garage with a handful of passengers. Though this was the K5-XL11 10.32 ex Lynn, the driver had managed to get to Lynn and load. I then spoke to the passengers, explaining that we were going back to Lynn in order to operate my turn, the 11.02 (Y6-XL12) as an on time service. Not one complaint from them. Left on time"
By the time the delayed westbound services began to reappear eastbound, the earlier delays were still in evidence. Eastbound from Wisbech were Y6-XL12 31 late, Y7-XL13 24 late, L8-XL14 16 late, Y9-XL15 16 late, L10-XL16 6 late and L11-XL17 12 late.
Whilst all this was going on, K2-XL08 had 37575 which was running late replaced by 37570 for the 09.02 to Lowestoft, unfortunately this only got as far as Swaffham where it was failed with a brake fault. 37572 went out to the rescue and later this was itself replaced by 37160 for the 15.45 King's Lynn - Peterborough. So four buses worked K2 today !
As one might expect 37575 off late running K2-XL08 became K3-XL09 and 37157 off K3-XL09 became K4-XL10 until replaced by 37579 at teatime. 37565 switched from K4-XL10 to become K5-XL11 and this layover procedure continued until L10-XL16 which ran through as booked. 37160 off Y9-XL15 then became spare until used on K2-XL08 later.There wasn't much wrong with 37570 as later it replaced 37579 on K19-XL06.
37159 was kept in all day for a gearbox hose to be replaced and when 37572 came off K2-XL08 this afternoon it was diagnosed with a ring gear problem.
From 1st - 12th October, Hardwick Roundabout is closed from 20.00 - 06.00 with services using Nar Ouse Way to get to the A47, while from 1st for five nights, the Norwich Southern Bypass is closed between Postwick and the A146. X1s diverted via Thorpe Road.
Tuesday 2nd October
Peter writes " Out early this morning for K3-XL09 with 37567, departed Walsoken on time but sat in Wisbech bus station until leaving at 07.22. Full credit to our driver, he was waiting connections as several people boarded just before we left - coming from the rail industry I find this concept bizarre - waiting for connections, whatever next ?"

Well it makes a change from all those films ! This striking advertising campaign was originally used by Stonewall to counteract bullying in schools and is now being used to promote the campaign for gay marriage legislation. It now adorns ten X1 Geminis and has turned a few heads.

All services ran to within 5 minutes of time today after yesterday's disruption. Only 37160 on L11-XL17 failed this target being 7 late to Peterborough, but only 3 late coming back. L8-XL14 arrived in Lynn with 37569 this morning, but 37572 then took over for the leg to Peterborough before 37569 returned to the diagram. 37572 was then booked to go to Volvo for attention.

37571 arrives at Wisbech with Y6-XL12 05.50 from Great Yarmouth today.

Wednesday 3rd October
A quieter day with just a few swaps. 37575 was one of these and started on Y7-XL13 then took over K15-XL02. 37573 off maintenance took Y7-XL13 forward and K15-XL02 had 37568 taken off for the same purpose. Tonight 37566 was in trouble with a suspected puncture at Toftwood on K2-XL08 and fitters attended. Mid afternoon, K5-XL11 with 37159 was seen leaving Yarmouth 15 late with temporary lights on the west side of Haven Bridge causing delays into the town. 37564 on L8-XL14 was diverted out of Norwich as mentioned above and was 10 late arriving at its destination, the JPH.

Thursday 4th October
Punctuality was very good in the west today and even late departures from Lowestoft, K16-XL03 with 37159 which left 15 late and K18-XL05 with 37158 which was 10 late made up time. 37579 came off K14-XL01 for 37574 but there were no other changes. Y7-XL13 with 37576 took 9 minutes to load in Norwich and left 5 late with congestion making a slightly late arrival in King's Lynn.

Friday 5th October
37572 returned from repairs at Volvo today and requires a full inspection before returning to service. Timekeeping was good today with a few late morning delays, but then things ran smoothly until an accident on the Pullover roundabout caused delays at teatime. K19-XL06 with 37575 finished at the coast and 37563 off K2-XL08 came back on the last Lowestoft - King's Lynn.
L8-XL14 had 37567 taken off duty tonight with a cracked screen, 37566 off Y7-XL13 went forward. At Lowestoft there were two late running B7s, the worst being L11-XL17 with 37159 arriving 15 late and departing 9 late.

Saturday 6th October
Pretty good timekeeping today with only a morning swap on L8-XL14, 37575 coming off for 37567.

23rd - 30th September 2012 ~ Nicely Thankyou

The last week of September was pretty uneventful, so a quick blog to keep you up to date ...

Sunday 23rd September : For some reason, 37566 was not used by Great Yarmouth today and instead B7 37157 was turned out for the diagram which finishes early at King's Lynn at 20.44. It is quite a while since a B7 worked on a Sunday. Syd returned 66346 from Lowestoft to Norwich after its holiday. 42450 came back from Yarmouth to Lowestoft to compensate.

Monday 24th September : Things went very well today and were monitored by Bruce. 37565 is having MOT work done this week, while 37158 and 37564 were kept in for exams. No swaps were recorded.

Tuesday 25th September : 37576 had to be taken out of traffic today (it was working K19-XL06) when it's propshaft failed. 37572 replaced it. 37563 was required for servicing and this meant after lunch 37159 ended up on K15-XL02 which is unusual. Timekeeping was excellent today with no delays noted on any of the 19 turns.

Wednesday 26th September : An extremely rare occurence today was 37158 on Y9-XL15 terminating at Lowestoft due to a driver shortage, I'm pretty certain that in order to balance things, the 19.10 Peterborough - Lowestoft terminated at King's Lynn with 37571. Once again punctuality was exceptional and only K19-XL06 with 37578 ran late through Wisbech - it was 12 late on th 15.18 to Peterborough, but just 7 late coming back.

Thursday 27th September : Another good day for the timetable summed up by K18-XL05 with 37160 which was marginally early past me this afternoon on the 14.48 Wisbech - Peterborough. 37572/6/9 are all scheduled to have tachograph calibration over the next few days. Malcolm reports Lowestoft's sole remaining Palatine, 34155, on the 101 town service today.

Friday 28th September : A few services were delayed by up to 10 minutes today, but again considering it was a Friday things ran acceptably well. 37570 on L11-XL17 was 12 late through Wisbech on the 11.18 to Peterborough.  37576 was repaired very quickly and was out again today initially on K1-XL07 but by this afternoon it had dropped down to K2-XL08. 37575 started the day on K5-XL11 but was replaced by 37572 at 10.32 after its tachograph check. 37575 later appeared on K1-XL07 28 late, the only timekeeping casualty of the day. 37565 off MOT appeared on K4-XL10. Des reports K18-XL05 with 37157 running 15 late from King's Lynn on the 17.02 to Great Yarmouth where it arrived 19 late due to the Friday traffic.

37567 at Peterborough Queensgate this afternoon on K14-XL01 13.35 Peterborough - Lowestoft.
Photo courtesy of Ian Hignett

Saturday 29th September. There were a few delays today, but all seemed to run fairly well except K17-XL04 with 37569 which departed Wisbech at 14.40 on the 14.18 to Peterborough. A morning incident on the Acle Straight didn't seem to affect services much. Des writes "37567 for me on K14-XL01 08..55 Lowestoft - Peterborough. we were on time until Dereham where traffic was heavy, then at Swaffham an influx of around 15 youngsters all with £5 or£10 notes for a £4.40 fare - it all takes time. After this exiting fromNarborough onto the A47 was delayed by a 40mph Tesco lorry and trailing traffic. We were 6 late from King's Lynn bus station at 12.21. Later my booked service of K18-XL05 17.02 Lynn - Great Yarmouth ended up taking K17 (XL04)s passengers as this went non-stop to Norwich. Its passengers joined me at the Southgates and K18-XL05 departed here 5 minutes late with around 30 pasengers having joined. Arrival at Great Yarmouth was 12 late.

Another of Ian's Saturday sightings : 37568 working K16-XL03 09.55 from Lowestoft on arrival at Peterborough.
[I Hignett]

Sunday 30th September. An uneventful day with an all B9 worked service and no swaps. Work has been ongoing this week on checking the heaters on the fleet in preparation for the colder weather.

16th September 2012 - 22nd September 2012 ~ New Liveries and Old Friends

Sunday 16th September.

It all ran well today with no vehicle swaps. I paid a visit to Showbus with Bruce courtesy of Norfolk Green.
The 'First' contingent at Great Yarmouth borrowed Gemini 36166 from Norwich and it is seen (left) before departure from the garage. Thanks to Des for the picture.
Today the X1 buses were located as follows : 37563/4/5/7/8/9, 37571/2/3/9 in service. Garaged : 37566/570/5/7/8, 37156/7/9 King's Lynn ; 37158 Great Yarmouth and 37574/6, 37160 at Lowestoft.
The X1 was behaving at Lowestoft, but Malcolm says the Martham service due to form the 14.10  service arrived 22 late and left 24 late with 32209, all other buses were on time.

Norfolk Green have just begun to repaint their fleet in new colours as seen here on our Spectra which brought us to Duxford. Many thanks to the NG staff for their hospitality.

The new general  'First' livery is shown on this entrant from First in Ipswich.

Monday 17th September

New advertising campaigns mean that you are quite likely to see your X1 arriving with 'Savages' or 'Sinister' emblazoned on the side - at least some have another Milk advert which is a refreshing change from all the violence and gore. On the road it was a nice simple day with the maximum lateness at Wisbech being 10 minutes. K4-XL10 swapped 37569 for 37564 and L8-XL14 37565 for 37573 (off Y7-XL13). As neither 565 or 569 were due maintenance, this must have been for some other reason. At Lowestoft, the 101 town service now seems to get double deckers on a daily basis, today Malcolm viewed 34155, 30886 & 30889 all on this duty at various times.

Tuesday 18th September

An exceptional day for punctuality with many services bang on time. K16-XL03 with 37160 managed to lose 9 minutes on the 13.15 King's Lynn - Peterborough but otherwise things ran like clockwork. Add to this all buses sticking to their turns and it must have been the best day on the route for some months.
All X1 buses now require a 'running board' which is used in conjunction with the new ticket machines. There have been a few teething troubles with the new system and occasionally a bus is left without a running board, meaning the driver has to go on a hunt for  it. This situation led to 37567 departing Lowestoft 14 late this afternoon on L8-XL14, the 15.25 to Peterborough.

Wednesday 19th September

Here's a nice shot of our old friend 34108 which was chased down Bracondale by Dave who took this picture of it on one of the X1 shorts this morning. [D. Hodkinson]

Another relatively good day for timekeeping, however 37160 on L11-XL17 came into Lynn 26 late from the coast only a couple of minutes ahead of 37568 on L12-XL18. It looks like 37568 went fast from Wisbech to Peterborough and returned as L11 coming back into Wisbech 12 late. 37160 meanwhile slipped a turn to become L12. This apart, things went well, although I somehow missed seeing K14-XL01 & K18-XL05. Bruce spotted the latter running 19 late returning to Lowestoft on the 15.35 ex Peterborough with 37159. In Lowestoft all the X1s seen by Malcolm were running to time except K16-XL03 which had 37156 arriving 19 late and departing 12 late.

Thursday 20th September

Well what a nice easy week to report, Thursday continued this trend with only K16-XL03 running appreciably late through Wisbech,due to depart to Peterborough at 13.48, 37158 got away at 14.00. Elsewhere, Cheryl reports 37578 on Y6-XL12 08.48 to Peterborough waiting for departure time which is almost unheard of. Tonight after a visit to Elgoods beer festival, I was walking back to my sisters when we were passed on North Brink at 22.57 by L12-XL18 with 37566 having for some reason run via Wisbech St. Mary. 37564 was noted running today without advertising on its passenger side revealing the white panel and X1 route destinations.
Interesting sights on the X2 were Palatine 34156 on the 15.03 to Norwich and 66346 with new green line branding on the 13.40 from Norwich. This was after Dart 43435 had broken down on an X2 in Bracondale on Wednesday evening. Syd adds that it even worked the 21.00 X2 to Norwich tonight and came back with the return working !

66346 in Lowestoft this evening. Photograph by kind permission of James Race.

More pictures at :
http://eastnorfolkbus.blogspot.co.uk/

Friday 21st September

Y6-XL12 with 37570 at Norwich at lunchtime.  I wonder how the passengers on the top deck like being referred to as Savages ! [Dave Hodkinson]

and there were savages going to Peterborough too ! 37573 working K19-XL06 takes on passengers at Norwich bus station. Thanks to Dave for providing the photographs.

Surely Friday would provide some more incident ? Well naturally punctuality suffered a bit as always seems to be the case on Fridays. Y9-XL15 with 37157 left Wisbech westbound 12 late and was 13 late returning, L10-XL16 & L11-XL17 were near enough on time and L12-XL18 with 37563 was 15 late westbound and 11 late coming back. K14-XL01 did well though and was only 8 late in to Wisbech for the 14.26 to Lowestoft with 37567, K15-XL02 (37569) went west 14 late but then got held up returning at Weasenham Lane where a two vehicle accident caused long queues. It eventually got through and passed me 28 late. 37569 had replaced 37579 at King's Lynn at 12.45 but was so late returning that Lynn garage sent out 37575 to do the 15.32 to Lowestoft with 37569 retiring on arrival. Not for long though as K2-XL08 with 37566 which was 18 late to Peterborough was then taken out of service and 37569 came out again to do the 18.35 King's Lynn - Lowestoft. K17-XL04 which was 10 late to Peterborough with 37564 also became mixed up in the delay and was exactly 30 late returning when seen by Bruce at Walpole Highway. finally 37574 had a fault and had to be taken off K5-XL11 in favour of 37565 this morning.
66346 continued its holiday in Lowestoft and was operating the 101 service.

Saturday 22nd September

This morning I saw 37569 at Walpole Highway running 14 late on L8-XL14, but other services were pretty near time. L9-XL15 came along with 37567 just 4 late and going westbound Y13-XL19 with 37578 was about 6 late. Somehow L9 ended up overtaking L8 and so the two turns had swapped duties when seen by Malcolm late this afternoon.