3 companies filling Greyhound's void in northern Manitoba thriving now, but future 'remains to be seen'

Three weeks after Greyhound pulled passenger and freight services across Western Canada, a trio of Manitoba-owned bus lines with ties to Thompson have stepped in to fill the gap in services for the area.

Highway 6 Express, Maple Bus Lines, and Thompson Bus and Freight all began running regular passenger and freight trips between Winnipeg and Thompson, 650 kilometres to the north, in late October.

Maple and Thompson Bus also have routes from Thompson to Cross Lake, Man.. Maple has an additional route to The Pas, and Thompson Bus has one to Gillam.

"Things are healthy. Things are thriving. Support's been fantastic," said Jimmy Pelk, one of the partners at Thompson-based Thompson Bus, on Wednesday. That business has eight buses and 14 full-time employees in Thompson, with an additional three people in Winnipeg.

"It sounds like I'm, you know, in Willy Wonka's dreamland, but it's just been a great experience and I think it's going to continue to be a great experience for us and our customers."

There might be enough for everybody. It's in high demand right now, transportation up north.- Steven Crooks, Highway 6 Express

Maple Bus Lines, whose owner is also from Thompson but now lives in Winnipeg, has 11 staff and three buses stationed in Thompson. Ten of the 11 employees formerly worked for Greyhound, and they're all from the area, said Maple manager Lona Barnowich. She had worked at Greyhound since 1978.

"It has given employment to 10 of us and it helps the people in northern Manitoba have options for travel," she said.

Highway 6 Express is a one-man, one-bus show. Owner Steven Crooks, who was born and raised in Thompson, purchased a bus and freight trailer, which he drives to Winnipeg and back twice a week.

"It's just me, myself and I," Crooks said Wednesday. "I have a 16-passenger, small bus. Very nice, clean and runs well — I love this thing, she's been treating me so good."

'A little cutthroat'

With three bus services in the area, Crooks, Pelk and Barnowich said it's not clear if the market will be able to support them all in the long run.

"I guess that remains to be seen," Barnowich said.

When it announced the end to most of its Western Canada services, Greyhound cited a 41 per cent decline in ridership since 2010, as well as competition from subsidized passenger transportation services, new low-cost airlines, and the growth of car ownership.

Crooks added there are three additional companies that had expressed interest in opening lines in the area, but that hasn't happened yet.

"I don't know how everyone expects to survive, if Greyhound couldn't survive with their three buses. And then now we have about six companies [in total] coming in, all trying to survive right now. So it's probably going to be a little cutthroat," he said.

"At the same time, there might be enough for everybody. It's in high demand right now, transportation up north."

Pelk said his company has worked with Crooks's already, and he has no problem with working together in the industry.

"There's three companies operating now. I don't think there'll be three in the next 180 days or 12 months, because there was only one before, and the one company met that need," Pelk said.

"There could be room, but there doesn't need to be [three companies]. I wish everyone well and the customer is going to be the deciding factor of who succeeds and who doesn't at the end of the day."

'Crucial need'

Barnowich said so far, business has been good for Maple.

"It's good. It hasn't been without some challenges, but hopefully … overcoming them makes us stronger," she said.

Pelk said the Manitoba-based lines are providing a vital service for the area.

"My partner and I, we felt it was a crucial need that northern Manitoba has a northern bus company to serve the people of the north for the next generations to come," he said.

"We feel, being from the north, we understand the north, and we can do that better than someone from the south or someone from out of province."