Greyhound may cut some rural Manitoba routes

Greyhound may cut some of its rural bus routes in Manitoba this summer, but the province's transportation minister says other companies will likely pick up whatever routes the major carrier drops.

Steve Ashton says he cannot guarantee that all the rural routes Greyhound operates will continue running after July 1, when the province will stop subsidizing the carrier.

"Will there be some impact on communities? Possibly. But, you know, two years agowe were looking at no bus service in Manitoba," Ashton told CBC News on Thursday.

The Manitoba government gave Greyhound more than $3 millionin each of the past two years to keep its existing bus service going, after the company threatened to cease passenger services if it did not get government support.

But with the subsidies running out, Greyhound no longer has to cover routes that it finds unprofitable.

Ashton said the province wants to change the inter-city bus system, which he said has been in place since the 1950s and is too regulated.

By opening the market to competition, Ashton said he believes most communities will be served, whether it's by Greyhound or other companies.

Manitoba saw a similar situation with rail service, when smaller firms picked up routes that were abandoned by CN and CP.

"They took over lines that were not considered profitable by the main rail companies, and with a different business plan [and] a different service model, [they] are actually operating them," he said.

Several bus companies have already expressed interest in providing service, Ashton said.