Expansion of Rider Express services in Western Canada

Greyhound Canada announced the end of its activities in Canada in October, and Rider Express has decided to take advantage of the possibility of expansion.

In an announcement on Monday afternoon, Rider Express will soon add routes to Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

"It's a new opportunity to serve Western Canada, we're talking about four provinces, maybe five (Ontario), which is nearly 10 million people, and this bus service is desperately needed," said Firat Uray, Rider Express and Transportation Ltd. owner and president.

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The bus depot adds six additional buses of 45 or 55 passengers.

"(The) start will be Winnipeg to Vancouver and then add Edmonton to Saskatoon, continue to Winnipeg and if we see more opportunities, we'll add more routes until we can go to Ontario," said Uray.

Twice a day between Vancouver and Calgary and daily trips between Calgary and Winnipeg are also offered seven days a week.

Rider Express already operates routes between Regina and Saskatoon twice a day, running twice a day between Saskatoon and Prince Alberta, along with weekly routes between Regina, Saskatoon and Swift Current.

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Regarding future bus stops, Uray intends to reach all existing Greyhound depots in Western Canada and see if they are interested in becoming Rider Express stations.

"When I heard the news from Greyhound, I started working on it, we'll talk to them and if they want to work with us, we'll work with them," Uray said.

"We will visit each of those small towns and small towns and we will talk to them."

Uray is still waiting for obtaining certificates of the operating licenses required for each province before an exact date of service can be completed, but the hope is that the buses will be operational by mid-September.