Northern Manitoba is starting to get a look at what life will be like without Greyhound.
As of Oct. 31, the bus transport company shut down almost every route it offered and operated in western Canada, including all routes in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
With Greyhound now out of the region’s transport picture, other businesses have offered passenger and freight bus service throughout Manitoba. Six companies, including three based in northern Manitoba, are seeking to maintain passenger transport bus service throughout the province.
Only one of the six groups, OCN-based Kelsey Bus Lines, currently has plans to serve Flin Flon passengers. Using the existing Greyhound route running between Flin Flon and Winnipeg along Highway 10, Kelsey plans on running six days each week between the communities.
Buses leaving Coutts’ Convenience in Creighton for Winnipeg will leave at 7:30 pm on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, making several stops along the way before arriving in Winnipeg around 7 am. The return trip from Winnipeg to Flin Flon will run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving Winnipeg at 8:30 pm and arriving in Flin Flon at 8:30 the next morning.
Kelsey Bus Lines has also announced intentions to offer a Thompson-Winnipeg route along Highway 6, leaving Thompson for Winnipeg on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and going from Winnipeg to Thompson on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Another northern Manitoba-based company, Thompson Bus, will start operation with routes between Thompson and Winnipeg, Thompson and Gillam and Thompson and Cross Lake. Thompson Bus plans to offer a freight service transport loop, running from Thompson to Snow Lake, The Pas and Flin Flon.
The third northern company getting involved in bus transport is Saunders Enterprise, based in Norway House, which plans to offer Thompson-Winnipeg service before running buses between Norway House, Cross Lake and Thompson.
Beyond northern Manitoba, one additional company plans to operate service in the north. Maple Bus Lines will also run a Thompson-Winnipeg route along Highway 6 and operates charter bus service for groups in the north.
Two companies, Kasper Transportation and Rider Express, plan to operate routes from Winnipeg outside of Manitoba. Kasper Transportation will operate a route into Ontario, going between Winnipeg and Kenora, while Rider Express plans to start passenger bus service between Winnipeg and their home base in Regina before expanding to other western Canadian markets.
