Many Manitobans in the northern part of the province can breathe a sigh of relief as several bus lines step in to fill the void Greyhound will soon leave behind.

Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation Chief Elwood Zastre said a lot of people in his community, which is about 45 minutes north of Swan River, Man. rely on bus services. 

“A lot of our people have a hard time with medical to come to the city. They have no vehicles, so this has been going on for a long time for people coming from the north on the Greyhound bus,” said Zastre. 

Greyhound announced in July it was ending its passenger bus and freight services across the Prairies on Oct. 31. Since then several bus lines have been working to fill the gaps in Manitoba, including Kelsey Bus Lines in The Pas, Man.

“There’s more than medical. There’s students that are attending university or college up north,” said Suzanne Barbeau-Bracegirdle, CEO of Aseneskak Casino. “They’re already calling me to find out when they can get on the bus, and when they can buy tickets.”

Kelsey Bus Lines, which will be renamed Mahihkan Bus Lines, is owned and operated by Aseneskak Casino in Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Man.

It currently operates as a charter service but come Nov. 1 it will be adding daily passenger routes in Manitoba from Thompson and Flin Flon to Winnipeg, as well as freight service. 

Barbeau-Bracegirdle said they want to make the transition as easy as possible.

“We kept the same rates that Greyhound currently has, and we kept the same times, and we kept the same locations. We didn’t want to disrupt anything that Greyhound set up.”

Meanwhile, Maple Bus Lines, which is stationed in Selkirk, Man. is also getting ready to launch passenger routes to the north. 

“The owner and investors that we have on board they felt the need to want to help the local Manitobans get across Manitoba,” said Maisie Hicks, general manager of Maple Bus Lines. 

She said they will have eight buses up and running with a cost similar to Greyhound’s. The main depot is located in Winnipeg on Sherbrook Street about a block away from Health Sciences Centre. Beginning Oct. 29 the buses will travel to The Pas, Thompson and Cross Lake in Manitoba with passenger and freight service.

“We just want to see what the next two, three months bring for us, and how the business is evolving,” said Hicks.

Both Kelsey Bus Lines and Maple Bus Lines plan to add more routes in the southern part of the province in the future, and they’re not the only companies that have adjusted to help fill the void. 

Thompson Bus is a brand new company that launched in July and provides both passenger and freight service from Winnipeg to the north. It tells CTV News it has 20 passenger buses providing services to Manitoba’s Cross Lake, Split Lake, Keeyask and Gillam. 

It also started a freight-only service in Manitoba from Thompson to Snow Lake, The Pas and Flin Flon, and plans to add passenger buses to those routes in the future. Thompson Bus is starting to plan trips to Nelson House, Lynn Lake and Leaf Rapids in early 2019.

In July, Kasper Transportation, which is based in Thunder Bay, Ont. announced it planned to fill gaps between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, as well as Winnipeg to Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert, Sask. According to a Facebook post, the company said it will begin a route between Thompson and Winnipeg on Nov. 1. 

In a statement to CTV News, the province said its encouraged by private operators who are working to set up business in Manitoba saying, “From the outset, we believed that Greyhound exiting the market would provide an opportunity that is being realized by companies in our province.”

As for what will happen to the Greyhound Bus Depot, the Winnipeg Airports Authority said it continues to have conversations with Greyhound about the space they currently have at the airport. 

The WAA said it has also been talking with other companies that are filling the gap in the market, including Thompson Bus Lines, which began service earlier this month with pickups and drop offs at the airport.