First breaks up Excel Norwich-Peterborough

[ashkeba]

I'm in Norwich today and it seems the identity crisis Norwich-Peterborough Excel-branded service (formerly XL, formerly part of X1, formerly X94, probably other) has been split into four overlapping routes, A to D.

A is "all stops" (but it isn't, skipping Thorny and some others often) is the backbone of the service.
B runs non stop between Wisbech and King's Lynn.
C runs non stop between Fransham and Easton.
D serves only Dereham, Cringleford Bus Interchange for H (a new stop to me) and Norwich.

Does this make sense to anyone? I guess B is because it uses some bypass, but C seems like it is used only because they had A, B and D. Service D seems like another service stuck under Excel branding which will annoy anyone wanting a bus for further west. At least tickets look interchangeable so the confusion shouldn't reward them with extra fares paid.

This makes my usual Cambridge and Ely buses seem simple!

 

[carlberry]

I'm in Norwich today and it seems the identity crisis Norwich-Peterborough Excel-branded service (formerly XL, formerly part of X1, formerly X94, probably other) has been split into four overlapping routes, A to D.

A is "all stops" (but it isn't, skipping Thorny and some others often) is the backbone of the service.
B runs non stop between Wisbech and King's Lynn.
C runs non stop between Fransham and Easton.
D serves only Dereham, Cringleford Bus Interchange for H (a new stop to me) and Norwich.

Does this make sense to anyone? I guess B is because it uses some bypass, but C seems like it is used only because they had A, B and D. Service D seems like another service stuck under Excel branding which will annoy anyone wanting a bus for further west. At least tickets look interchangeable so the confusion shouldn't reward them with extra fares paid.

This makes my usual Cambridge and Ely buses seem simple!

I dont think the letters mean anything more than a way of identifying different services. It's a way of offering speeding up journeys and is likely to be a bit easier to understand than XLA, XLB, XLC or XLD, or just calling them all XL and the passengers having to ask about the different stopping pattersn all the time. The Cambridge busway routes are similar.

 

[Andyh82]

They haven’t broken the service up, they’ve just amended which villages each trip calls into, and given different trips different letters. Overall it means faster journeys and this is on top of the brand new high spec buses.

 

[Aictos]

I remember when they used to be X1 Peterborough to Great Yarmouth calling Wisbech, Kings Lynn, Norwich as well as every remote stop in the middle of nowhere, awful and slow!

Then because of roadworks, they cut it to Peterborough to Norwich which I guess helped with reliability?

Personally it should stop only at Peterborough, Wisbech, Kings Lynn, Dereham and Norwich as a express bus service and leave the local stops to the local bus operators.

 

[borage]

At Kings Lynn on Saturday (last day of the old timetable) I saw a passenger ask for a ticket to [Walpole Highway or Terrington St John] only to be told to wait half an hour. And easy mistake to make, so perhaps the distinction between A and B will help.

Unfortunately, the letters don’t appear in the data used by journey planners, the First app, bustimes.org etc – they still show “XL”.

Also slightly awkward that there are now two “B”s at Peterborough, the other being the Stagecoach busway route to Cambridge.

 

[richard13]

I'm in Norwich today and it seems the identity crisis Norwich-Peterborough Excel-branded service (formerly XL, formerly part of X1, formerly X94, probably other) has been split into four overlapping routes, A to D.

A is "all stops" (but it isn't, skipping Thorny and some others often) is the backbone of the service.
B runs non stop between Wisbech and King's Lynn.
C runs non stop between Fransham and Easton.
D serves only Dereham, Cringleford Bus Interchange for H (a new stop to me) and Norwich.

Does this make sense to anyone? I guess B is because it uses some bypass, but C seems like it is used only because they had A, B and D. Service D seems like another service stuck under Excel branding which will annoy anyone wanting a bus for further west. At least tickets look interchangeable so the confusion shouldn't reward them with extra fares paid.

This makes my usual Cambridge and Ely buses seem simple!

I think this link goes to a decent explanation of the changes (buses and routes):
http://busandtrain.blogspot.com/2020/02/now-i-know-my-abc-i-can-get-to.html

 

[ashkeba]

Personally it should stop only at Peterborough, Wisbech, Kings Lynn, Dereham and Norwich as a express bus service and leave the local stops to the local bus operators.

I didn't mind the stops on the main road or old main road. Some like Necton, Narborough and Terrington St John had quite a few passengers - looks on the map like those stops might serve a few villages - but the route actually doing circles through Toftwood, Dereham and so on years ago seemed inappropriate for an X service.

 

[ashkeba]

I think this link goes to a decent explanation of the changes (buses and routes):
http://busandtrain.blogspot.com/2020/02/now-i-know-my-abc-i-can-get-to.html

Thank you. That's a better explanation than anything First has provided in the bus station! I still think they would have been better with X numbered services, because it's limited stop, Peterborough and maybe others already have a service B and Norwich doesn't have many X routes so there's many numbers available.

I'm shocked that there's no luggage racks. This is a rail link for towns along the route and the racks seemed well used on my few trips on it, with cases, folded baby chairs and even bagged folded bikes.

 

[cnjb8]

Personally it should stop only at Peterborough, Wisbech, Kings Lynn, Dereham and Norwich as a express bus service and leave the local stops to the local bus operators.

I have to disagree. I think by renumbering/lettering the Excels, they've circumnavigated that problem.

 

[carlberry]

At Kings Lynn on Saturday (last day of the old timetable) I saw a passenger ask for a ticket to [Walpole Highway or Terrington St John] only to be told to wait half an hour. And easy mistake to make, so perhaps the distinction between A and B will help.

Unfortunately, the letters don’t appear in the data used by journey planners, the First app, bustimes.org etc – they still show “XL”.

Also slightly awkward that there are now two “B”s at Peterborough, the other being the Stagecoach busway route to Cambridge.

There's an article in 'Buses' this month about how much effort First put into planning for the new vehicles which dosent appear to have gone as far as trying to avoid duplicate identities in the locations it serves or trying to make some connection between how it's promoted online and how it appears in the real world! They have past form for this with a service in the South West which was Severn Express on leaflets/destinations but 7XP online.

 

[route101]

Fancied doing this route from Peterborough to Norwich

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I'm planning on using the X1 from Norwich to Peterborough on Saturday 22 August but don't really fancy 3 hours wearing a mask so wondered if anyone can recommend a suitable place to break the journey for a pint and a spot of lunch?

 

[northern506]

I'm planning on using the X1 from Norwich to Peterborough on Saturday 22 August but don't really fancy 3 hours wearing a mask so wondered if anyone can recommend a suitable place to break the journey for a pint and a spot of lunch?

The Carpenters Arms in East Winch is really nice. There isn't much around there though other than that.

Otherwise, Kings Lynn is a good shout.