(27 Dec 2020, 8:22 pm)mb134 wrote I'd bet it happens more often than people realise, just usually it'll be far less noticeable (though I believe if necessary people aren't notified/it isn't realised it can be quite problematic if a breakdown or something similar occurs). Driver has likely read the wrong row/column on the allocation sheet. The first driver this morning simply takes the bus light (as mentioned by Dan on Facebook), and probably didn't think "this is for an X10" - if they had then they probably would have double checked the allocation before it left the depot.

Slightly different scenario, but I popped into Percy Main one day looking for a particular vehicle.  Someone there kindly checked for me, noting that it was due out in service later that morning, but it turned out it was nowhere to be seen - we concluded it had suffered something major, and been taken away for repairs.  Later on I discovered the vehicle at North Shields on a completely different route; the driver told me that his allocated bus had had a defect, so he'd just taken another bus at random without checking whether or not it was allocated!