Image Credit: FILE PHOTO

KAMLOOPS - The company that stepped in to take over some of the bus routes previously operated by Greyhound is expanding its service in the North Okanagan and Shuswap

The Passenger Transportation Board has given approval to Diversified Transportation, also known as Ebus, for an expansion that will now see service to Chase, Sorrento, Salmon Arm, Enderby and Armstrong.

Glen Desjardine, the operations supervisor with Ebus, says the company plans to have the new locations serviced at the start of next month, with advanced ticket sales available before the end of September.

“They should be able to book online effective Sep. 23 and our first scheduled trip via Salmon Arm to Kelowna will be on Oct. 7,” Desjardine says.

The fares will remain similar to other existing routes. Desjardins says the route from Kamloops to Salmon Arm will work out to be about $25. He says more information on pricing will be available upon the launch of ticket sales.

Desjardine says each stop will have twice-daily service, with one bus daily going in either direction.

“It's going to be an afternoon service,” Desjardine says. “It's going to leave Kamloops at two o'clock in the afternoon, and it will leave Kelowna at 12:15 in the afternoon.”

According to Desjardine, the stops will be as follows:

• Chase - Visitor Information Centre at 400 Shuswap Ave.
• Sorrento - Subway restaurant at 1258 Trans-Canada Highway
• Salmon Arm -  Husky gas station at 50 Trans-Canada Highway
• Enderby - Tourist Information Centre at 700 Railway St.
• Armstrong - Petro Canada at 3160 Smith Dr.

Although the company is eager to start offering services to the new locations, they have been denied a request to operate in communities from Kamloops to Prince George.

“We applied for Prince George to Kamloops and we were denied that request... we were not successful,” John Stepovy, director of business development with Ebus, says. “They felt like there is ample service on that corridor and essentially they did not issue us a license.”

Although tickets for the new routes aren’t available until Sep. 23, you can check out the Ebus website and book other tickets here.

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