Bus service to stop Nov. 15th

Ken Johnston

To be or not to be? That is the bus line question!
For months there has been talk that Greyhound Canada would discontinue its bus service through Rainy River.
In late July Greyhound applied with the Manitoba Transport Board to do just that. However, that request was denied and did not take effect as of September 6th as originally planned.
Mel Levandoski, Assistant General Manager for Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, told the Record Monday that, “We are still planning to stop service through Rainy River.” He explained that they filed a notice of abandonment for the route through Rainy River on August 15th. That notice must be filed 90 days before it takes effect. That date will be November 15, 2005.
In the mean time they will continue to run bus service as follows:
Effective this Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005:
Mon.-Thurs.
Wpg.-Fort Frances
Departing Wpg. at 6 p.m. and arriving in Fort about 11:30 p.m.
Tues.-Sat.
Fort Frances-Wpg.
Departing Fort at 7:30 am.
After November 15th the Ontario portion of the Wpg. to Fort Frances and the return trip will be abandoned and cease running.
Levandoski said that since the Manitoba Transport Board denied the cancellation of the Wpg. portion of the run to Fort Frances, “We will be obligated to run a bus (to Sprague).” However they will likely appeal the process and fully intend to eventually abandon the entire route.
He noted that the economics of the route did not make a great deal of sense. “We lost the freight due to the US customs restrictions and running a bus for one or two passengers is not feasible.”
The company did look at alternatives and Levandoski said that they have and interline agreement with Excel Bus line of Kenora. The bus from Emo to Kenora will arrive in Kenora in time to make a connection to Winnipeg if it is needed.
Excel is also carrying all of Greyhound’s freight in and out of this area.
Levandoski said that the only community really the loser in the change in service is Rainy River. “It is unfortunate that Rainy River is west of Excel’s service area.”
When asked if they looked at putting a smaller bus or a van on the route rather than cancelling it, Levandoski said, “We did, but without the freight (and low ridership) we don’t see it getting any better.”