PBO to Dereham Coach

[networkrail1]

Hi all.

Right i think its about time i owned up i am totally stumped by this one.

Ok so there is a coach service that runs from PBO to Dereham.

Ok no problem there it may help me out one day (volunteer on the MNR).

Now here is the confusing part:-

When ever i have seen this coach it is in first bus livery, so i have always believed it to be run by first bus.

However on ***** and NRE it shows the operator as East Coast Main Line.

I want to try and find prices for this service just in-case i do use it one day however when i go on East Coast's website and type in PBO to dereham (it comes up Dereham (coach only) or Dereham via Peterborough).

I then select it and it says it cannot find any fares for this route so i went on first group website and first looked on the timetable to see if it was the right coach but the ***** and the first group times do not match up and i still cant find any prices so what in the world is going on.

1) who operates this coach.
2) where do i find prices for PBO to Dereham (maybe return)
3) where do i find real times for this service do i trust ***** or First group.

Hope someone can help as i'm totally baffled for once.

Thank you for your time to read this.

I look forward to your replies.

All the best.

Simon.

P.S. For the aid of non railstaff here is a key to the shortcodes i put in:-

PBO = Peterborough rail station.
MNR = Mid Norfolk Railway.
***** = Relevent to railstaff only (oh and the odd enthusiast who nicked it lol.
NRE = National Rail Enquiries

 

[WillPS]

I believe this coach is run by First under contract to East Coast. The only tickets available are for connections to London. There is no coach-only ticket; it's a coach connection not a coach service.

 

[flymo]

If you input 'Huntingdon' to 'Dereham via Peterborough' it gives a single for £8.50 and a return for £14. That is for travel today, Tried a random date next week and also £8.50 single and £14 return. The times of the buses are indicated in the information for each fare.

A check on the EC mixing deck seem to indicate that tickets are available to Dereham via Peterborough as far south as Oakleigh Park, but no fares are shown for stations from New Southgate to KX.

Also fares are available from stations on the Hertford loop, some route via KX.

If you trust the National rail timetable, this is table 26A. The times shown on the mixing deck seem to tie in with the times in Table 26A.

hope this helps a bit.

Edit - Better info regarding the bus service came to light below.

 

[sonic2009]

Fares are Available from London KGX to Dereham but looking like routed FCC only.

 

[dk1]

The bus is the standard half-hourly X1 d/decker service that runs Peterborough-Lowestoft.

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/suf...bles/index.php?operator=22&page=1&redirect=no

 

[flymo]

The FCC website shows a fare of £3.50 single for the journey Peterborough - Dereham on the bus service. Would this seem right? - not bad for a 2h 30m bus journey.

 

[transportphoto]

Hats off to anyone who sits on that bus for any length of time!

The service, as mentioned above, is operated by First Eastern using double decker busses (not even a coach unless you're very lucky and get a substitution).

I do not recommend this service.

Thanks
TP

 

[Aictos]

The bus is the standard half-hourly X1 d/decker service that runs Peterborough-Lowestoft.

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/suf...bles/index.php?operator=22&page=1&redirect=no

Indeed it is, I haven't used it since First introduced the double deckers though.

My only gripe about it, is the fact that it seems to act as a local bus service from Eye onwards stopping at every single shack along the way.

Would be nice if a second service calling at the existing stops started allowing the X1 to only stop at Peterborough - Wisbech - Dereham - Kings Lynn - Norwich - Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

And by that I mean calling at either the main bus station as well as the railway station if there is one only.

There is already two services between Eye and Peterborough operated by Stagecoach so is entirely possible for the X1 not to call there.

 

[dk1]

My only gripe about it, is the fact that it seems to act as a local bus service from Eye onwards stopping at every single shack along the way.

Would be nice if a second service calling at the existing stops started allowing the X1 to only stop at Peterborough - Wisbech - Dereham - Kings Lynn - Norwich - Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

Rumours are doing the rounds at the moment that First are to split this route up. Timekeeping & various load patterns are behind things i think. They've just off loaded their bus services around Kings Lynn to Norfolk Green.

 

[jamesontheroad]

The bus is the standard half-hourly X1 d/decker service that runs Peterborough-Lowestoft.

+1.

I want to try and find prices for this service just in-case i do use it one day however when i go on East Coast's website and type in PBO to dereham (it comes up Dereham (coach only) or Dereham via Peterborough).

I then select it and it says it cannot find any fares for this route so i went on first group website and first looked on the timetable to see if it was the right coach but the ***** and the first group times do not match up and i still cant find any prices so what in the world is going on.

Until reading flymo's post about buying a PBO-originating ticket from FCC, I understood that you couldn't buy a train ticket for this bus if your journey starts or ends at PBO. NR ticketing treat is as a standard rail connecting bus service, so you can only book a journey on it if your connecting to/from a train at PBO. Perhaps the FCC booking engine would prevent you from actually purchasing that fare if you tried to?

In addition, you can't book it to any point east of (IIRC) Dereham. Since you could just take a train from PBO to Norwich or Great Yarmouth, there's no point duplicating services, especially when the bus is so slow.

Hats off to anyone who sits on that bus for any length of time!

Unfortunately we have to take it several times a year, since it's quicker door to door (and cheaper) than going to Thetford and by bus from there to Swaffham. It's bloody uncomfortable; completely the wrong bus for the route.

Indeed it is, I haven't used it since First introduced the double deckers though.

My only gripe about it, is the fact that it seems to act as a local bus service from Eye onwards stopping at every single shack along the way.

Would be nice if a second service calling at the existing stops started allowing the X1 to only stop at Peterborough - Wisbech - Dereham - Kings Lynn - Norwich - Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

I have similar gripes to ajax103. Until a few years ago (and as Eastern Counties had established it pre-takeover by First) it was run exclusively Plaxton bodied coaches, and was treated as a long distance coach service, albeit without any amenities (toilet etc). Partly because First Group are money grabbing arse candles, and partly because the free travel initiative for over 60s, it became economically preferable for First to ship the Plaxtons off to Scotland (ironically onto Glasgow commuter routes) and replace them with new Wright Bus double deckers. The argument being that very very few people use the route end to end - it's mostly used by people between or towards large towns, and you can see this if you take it on a longer route. People from Swaffham heading to Lynn; people from intermediate villages heading to Lynn or Wisbeach; people in Wisbeach heading into Peterborough. First rubbed salt in the wound by having the cheek to rebrand the Excel service with some pretty dumb vinyls on the buses: "extra frequent, extra comfort, extra value" (http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_kirk/4463209464/) despite the timetable frequencies staying the same, the buses getting significantly less comfortable and the prices actually increasing.

There has also been at least one nasty accident, somewhere between Wisbeach and Peterborough, IIRC, on a 60mph stretch in which the driver was seriously injured by someone overtaking and hitting the oncoming bus. He would have had a substantially off had he been in a motorcoach, not an urban bus that's designed for city streets.

Rumours are doing the rounds at the moment that First are to split this route up. Timekeeping & various load patterns are behind things i think. They've just off loaded their bus services around Kings Lynn to Norfolk Green.

It wouldn't surprise me. It'll be difficult to justify keeping a First crew base in King's Lynn for just one service. Perhaps Norfolk Green could provide the drivers on contract?