Kings Lynn Special

Following from the last post, which mentioned recent changes in Kings Lynn, I was delighted and extremely grateful to Graham Smith and David Bell for getting in touch with reports about the new bus scene in the Norfolk town. I'm using all of Graham's report and extracts of David's, and it's an honour to use pictures from a legend in the bus photography world. Thank you to you both, as I was struggling to work out how to get over there myself!

Hi there,

Just been reading your post of 30/4 & here are a few observations made in the K Lynn area Tues 1/5.

Firstly I'm sure you are aware that there have been some pretty hefty frequency cuts generally so the area seems a fair bit quieter bus wise.

I've only seen two Go To Town ( West Norfolk Community Transport) buses. Both on service 3 & I would think "on loan" as one in various shades of green & the other in plain white. No sign of the new buses talked of. Could not see destination details on green bus & white bus appeared to have paper route number & destination in windscreen. Go To Town have also apologised on their site for difficulties on the first day & hoping for a smoother day today.

And here is David's report on WNCT and the vehicles they are using, with his pictures.

New vehicles are apparently on order for WNCT - Streetlites I've been told. At the moment a variety of hired in vehicles and ex-demonstrators are working the routes along with two 18-registered Mercs with Mellor Strata bodywork. Amongst the other vehicles are a silver ex-demonstrator wheel-forward Streetlite SK65 PWV, a white door-forward Streetlite DRZ 9713 also ex-demonstrator, two ex-Cumfybus Solo SRs (YJ16 DZO/P) and a standard Solo in dark blue livery new to A1A Travel of Birkenhead but has been with Wheelers of North Baddesley (YN53 SVZ) plus at least one Merc/Mellor Strata demonstrator.

Back to Graham...

Lynx, from my observations, seem to be making a better fist of things with several of their smart red tempos viewed on several of their new services, indeed two mid morning services coming in from Hunstanton on 34 & 35 appeared to have standing passengers. Of course this corridor had seven buses per hour up till last week, Lynx have only increased their frequency from three to four per hour to replace the Stagecoach four per hour. Perhaps over provision has become under provision & its not even summer yet!! A rather garish pink & purple double decker was viewed at a distance on Lynx's only town route no 42 to Fairstead.

Buses of varying shades have been spotted in the Lynx depot on the run up to the new services & it is to be hoped that all will soon receive the smart red livery that Lynx are known for, indeed back in 2015 locals commented on how smart & clean their buses were given that they are all second hand. Their smart appearance has continued.

Here s David's review of Lynx operations...

Lynx had an all-red fleet out on Sunday. Today they had several deckers operating on stage services (they are normally confined to schools) and several of the ex-Lancashire United Tempos are running in yellow/blue livery although two have already been repainted. Lynx apparently took on 19 new drivers in one week and in addition to the Hunstanton services are operating the Fairstead Circular (formerly Stagecoach route 1), the Coastliner (service 36) as far as Wells (Sanders are operating the Wells-Cromer section), the 46 to Wisbech and the 49 to Fakenham (formerly the X8) First are of course running what was the X29 through to Norwich from Fakenham. Julian Patterson told me they now have no fewer than 27 Optare Tempos in the fleet! This is in addition to the Smithdon High School services which they took over from Stagecoach in October 2017 and other lightly-trafficked ex Stagecoach routes such as the 37 to Southery; the 38 to Fair Green and Middleton and the 48 to Grimston and Gayton.

It is worth noting that Lynx now have the largest fleet of Optare Tempos in the world. Back to Graham to sum up.

Although it seems that all of the Stagecoach Norfolk services have been covered, frequencies have suffered.

Kings Lynn to Hunstanton corridor 34 35 & 36. 7 per hour to 4.

Kings Lynn town services 2 3 4 5 Loss of late evening Fri/Sat journeys

Kings Lynn town service 6 cut from 20 to 30 min frequency

Kings Lynn town service 42 formerly ser 1 cut from 12 to 20 min frequency.

Kings Lynn to Fakenham 49 formerly x29 hourly to 2hourly.

Kings Lynn to Spalding still Stagecoach 505. 20 to 30 min frequency.

The loss of some of these services is surprising as some were listed by NCC as being subsidised & as the cuts to bus subsidies were overturned their removal is a bit surprising.

Websites.

Go To Town ( wnct ) poor but they are promising a revamp soon. Wait & see!!

Norfolk C C. Abysmal just directs you to operators sites or traveline, no county wide route map or service list. That would be a start. One gets the feeling that there is very little concern for public transport despite the fact they tell you that they have worked VERY HARD to provide services following Stagecoach withdrawal, they just don't want anyone to know about them!!!!

Stagecoach. Just the same old hard to get your head around site. Is it me or do they really expect folk, who may be tourists, to know the service no they want.

Lynx, I've saved the best till last. Very well laid out & professional for such a small company. Times & fares v easy to find & even a network map. Perhaps I'm biased as I live on a lynx route, but I dont think so. Also well maintained roadside info & map.

Once again huge thanks to Graham and David. I'm going to have to get out there myself soon.

Kings Lynn Special

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