SUBMITTED PHOTO Rick Douglas (left), co-owner of Coachline, hope to offer Albertans what he calls a much needed service between Medicine Hat and Calgary.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel
Seeking to bridge the gap left by Greyhound’s move last year to end almost all its Western Canada operations, Coachline will be offering a discount shuttle service from Medicine Hat to Calgary starting Feb. 1.
“It’s a very needed service. Greyhound should have never shut down,” Calgary-based Coachline co-owner Rick Douglas told the News. “There was no need for them to shut down. I think it was blatant stupidity on their part.”
The service will cost $27 for a refundable one-way ticket, with stops in Strathmore, Gleichen, Bassano, Brooks, Suffield and Redcliff.
“I’ve talked to all kinds of people. There are people who need to come into Calgary for cancer treatment and they can’t afford the transportation that is stepping up. A lot of them are just small vehicles, which is expensive,” said Douglas. “We’re trying to replace Greyhound.”
He said “it’s been quite an undertaking” getting established in the Hat.
“We had to find a building in Medicine Hat to use as a bus depot and get the city to approve it,” Douglas said, referring to the location purchased on 14th Street SW near the Husky truck stop.
They also had to ensure drivers were in compliance with the Mandatory Entry Level Training imposed after the tragic Humboldt Broncos bus crash.
Douglas says this delayed kickoff by six months, but emphasized MELT was much needed.
He will be driving the bus at the beginning, but is looking for two Medicine Hat-based drivers.
The service is slated to leave the Medicine Hat depot at 7 a.m. and leave Calgary at 6 p.m.
To start, the Calgary depot will be at the foot of the Calgary Tower, which Douglas says is particularly convenient for those going on to Edmonton, given its half-a-block proximity to the Red Arrow depot.
The plan is eventually to have multiple trips and a Calgary depot.
“We’re going to start with one trip a day and see where it goes,” said Douglas.
