First Eastern Counties 33816 (YX63 LKE) in Lowestoft - 29 Mar 2022 (P1110239)

Tuesday 29 March 2022 (1413) – First Eastern Counties Buses Limited 33816 (YX63 LKE) seen just after crossing the Harbour Bridge as it entered Lowestoft town centre working the 1250 Coastlink service X22 from Norwich via Beccles.

It is an Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro400D new in October 2013 that wears the branded livery for the range of Coastlink services linking Norwich with Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft (Norwich-Great Yarmouth then Lowestoft (X1) or Belton (X11) and Norwich-Beccles-Lowestoft (X2/X22)).

The seaside resort and port town of Lowestoft is the most easterly town in the British Isles. The town developed as a major fishing port but as that trade declined around the 1960s the port then supported the North Sea gas and oil industry. As that work declined the town became a regional centre for renewable energy.

The town is divided by Lake Lothing which links the sea with Oulton Broad. The Harbour Bridge links the two parts of the town and separates the Outer Harbour from the Inner Harbour. When this bascule style bridge is lifted (10 times in 24 hours) road traffic in the town can become gridlocked.

There is a second bridge at Oulton Broad a couple of miles or so inland (the vertical lift Mutford Bridge) which also can get very congested. A third bridge (Gull Wing Bridge) is now under construction about halfway between the existing two bridges which is due to open in 2023.