Greyhound Canada Closes its Services in Canada

TORONTO, May 13, 2021 /CNW/ -- Greyhound Canada has made the difficult decision to discontinue all operations on its remaining routes in Ontario and Quebec, and will permanently close all services in Canada effective today.

This announcement has no impact on Greyhound Lines' operations within the United States. Greyhound Lines, Inc. (USA) is a separate entity from Greyhound Canada.

Greyhound Lines, Inc. (USA) will continue to operate cross-border express services on the following routes when the border reopens:

• Toronto to New York
• Toronto to Buffalo
• Montreal to New York
• Montreal to Boston
• Vancouver to Seattle

Affected Routes and Operations in Ontario and Quebec

All Ontario and Quebec routes (excluding Canada – US cross-border services) that were temporarily suspended in May 2020 will permanently end as of midnight, May 13^th as follows:

• Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal
• Toronto-London-Windsor
• Sudbury-Ottawa/Toronto
• Toronto-Kitchener/Guelph/Cambridge
• Toronto-Niagara Falls
• Ottawa-Kingston

"We deeply regret the impact this has on our staff and our customers, as well as the communities we have had the privilege of serving for many years.

A full year without revenue has unfortunately made it impossible to continue operations. Thank you to our dedicated staff for their commitment and service, and to our customers for choosing Greyhound Canada during better times.

The company remains committed to honouring its labour agreements with employees and funding the commitments to our pension plan participants."  

- Stuart Kendrick, Senior Vice President, Greyhound Canada

DECISION RATIONALE

• Greyhound Canada implemented a range of cost reduction steps during recent years, including frequency adjustments to route schedules and other efficiency measures.
• In 2018, after years of declining ridership and the impact of a changing and increasingly challenging transportation environment, including de-regulation and subsidized competition such as VIA Rail and publicly owned bus systems, the difficult decision was made to suspend service in the western part of Canada. Services continued in Ontario and Quebec.
• The pandemic, and required travel restrictions to help keep Canadians safe, brought a further dramatic drop of approximately 95 percent of normal volumes before operations were fully suspended in May 2020.
• Our service is reliant on the farebox – we are not able to sustain operations with a significant reduction in ridership and the corresponding revenue loss.
• Greyhound Canada has made significant outreach efforts to provincial and federal governments for financial support for the industry. Financial investments from governments for Canada's inter-city bus sector have been negligible. Operations are not feasible absent of financial support.

TICKET REFUNDS

Customers holding tickets originating in Ontario or Quebec for travel within Canada after May 13, 2021 may request a refund.  Also customers with non-expired Canadian travel vouchers may request a refund of unused travel voucher funds. 

• Tickets can be refunded at the customer's request by calling 1-800-661-TRIP (8747).
• For Tickets purchased with a credit card or debit card, customers will receive their refunds back to their original form of payment within 72 hours of request.   
• For Tickets purchased with cash, customers will receive their refunds in the form of a check within 7-10 business days of request.
• These refund services will remain open until June 30, 2021.

For more information, please contact:

Wendy Cumming
McMillan Vantage
[email protected]

SOURCE Greyhound Canada