Shannon Kornylo says her son’s second birthday party will likely have two missing guests this year because direct bus service between Calgary and Saskatoon has been cancelled.
Her son’s grandma and grandpa had been planning to make their way to the Calgary family’s home later this month by taking the bus. However, when the Kornylos went to book bus tickets with Greyhound, they discovered the bus service to and from Saskatoon had been cancelled.
“My in-laws take the bus here a lot to visit us and their grandson, we’re really disheartened by this,” Shannon Kornylo said.
The only option now for the couple is to travel from Saskatoon to Edmonton before continuing south to Calgary, a trip that could take between 11 and 18 hours.
“Going on a bus for that long is ridiculous! They are 78 and 86 years old,” Kornylo said.
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A spokesperson for Greyhound said it wasn’t the company’s decision to end the service, it was instead due to a recent move by the government of Saskatchewan.
“Greyhound did not cancel operations between Calgary and Saskatoon. We had an interline partnership with Alsask Bus Service who provided service along that corridor and they recently discontinued the service effective June 1, 2017, due to the termination of the STC (Saskatchewan Transportation Company),” Lanesha Gipson, Senior Communications Specialist with Greyhound Lines Inc., said in an e-mail to Global News.
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The government of Saskatchewan announced plans to shut down the STC during their province’s spring budget. The decision was made in order to save the province an estimated $10 million a year.
Greyhound did not initially respond to questions as to whether or not service between the two cities would resume at any point in the future but later spokesperon, Lanesha Gipson provided the following statement:
“In regard to whether or not we plan to partner with another carrier in the future, we’re currently evaluating all of our options and will make a decision in the near future. However, we have no immediate plans to partner with another carrier at this time.”
Editor’s Note: The original version of this article stated that Greyhound bus service was cancelled between Calgary and Saskatoon, the article has been updated to reflect that direct bus service has been cancelled as the service was never operated by Greyhound but a service originally provided by Alsask bus service in partnership with Greyhound.
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