A German-based bus operator has joined an effort to close a transit gap left after the demise of Greyhound, Canada’s intercity service across Canada.
FlixBus officially became an option as of Thursday for Ontarians looking for an alternative to driving between London, Hamilton and Toronto.
“Our target is to take Ontarians out of their cars and convince them that it’s less stressful and economically the right choice to take the bus,” Pierre Gourdain, managing director of FlixBus North America told 900 CHML’s Good Morning Hamilton.
“It will always remain the cheapest way to go places in Ontario.”
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The service will operate from McMaster University in Hamilton with the routes originating at either Western University in London or Toronto’s Harbourfront.
Buses will leave Toronto at 11:15 a.m., stopping in Hamilton at 12:05 p.m. and arriving in downtown London by 1:40 p.m. before finishing the trip at Western.
London departures leave at 2:30 p.m. daily from Western University hitting downtown London at 2:40 p.m., Hamilton at 4:15 p.m. and arriving in Toronto by 5:10 p.m.
Trips can be booked via the FlixBus website or the company’s mobile app.
Ticket costs vary by day and demand, with the cheapest between London and Toronto one-way running around $20.
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Trips to either London or Toronto with Hamilton as a staring point will run about $10 one-way.
Service is already running between Ottawa and Toronto at about $60 one-way, as well as between Guelph and Toronto for about $16, Kitchener and Toronto for $19 and St. Catharines and Toronto for about $36 one-way.
Gourdain noted that as demand increases and as more people find out about the service, “we also expect to rise the prices a little bit.”
Future expansion will include cross border service to the U.S., much like that still offered by Greyhound, including a Toronto to Chicago and Toronto to Boston routes.
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Current U.S. trips include Buffalo, Syracuse and New York City.
More buses to Windsor and Niagara Falls are future targets for the travel service.
Megabus, and Onex Bus continue to offer intercity service from London to Toronto, however, neither offer a connection to Hamilton.
– with files from Matthew Trevithick