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Indian TrMonday, August 14, 2006
By Shandra Martinez
The Grand Rapids Press
HOLLAND -- Greyhound Lines' loss is Indian Trails' gain.
On Tuesday, the same day Greyhound Lines stops rolling into Holland, Owosso-based Indian Trails Motorcoach will pull in.
"We recognized that many travelers would be left without daily bus service when Greyhound Lines announced the abandonment of service to Holland and South Haven," said company President Gordon Mackay in a press release. "Our mainline route between Chicago and Flint relies heavily on passengers transferring from other points. In order to preserve that connecting service and continue to provide service to the residents of the area, we felt compelled to add the best level of service we could."
indain trails is interested in adding more stops along the Lakeshore, said Ken Henry, vice president of operations for Indian Trails, which started in 1910.
"If Greyhound decides to abandon Muskegon, we may look at a route that includes Grand Haven," Henry said. "A lot of our primary east-west business depends on the feeder traffic from the north."
While Greyhound offered two daily round trips from Holland in recent years, Indian Trails will offer one from Grand Rapids to Holland then South Haven and Benton Harbor.
At Benton Harbor, this coach will connect to westbound service with stops in Gary, Indiana, Hammond and Chicago.
At the Chicago Greyhound station, passengers can connect to all points west and south. Eastbound connections are also available at Benton Harbor via connection to Greyhound service.
The fares are slightly less than Greyhound rates, Henry said. For example, a one-way ticket to Chicago from Holland is $32.25, about $5 less than Greyhound charged.
The company is primarily a charter bus service. Only 11 of the company's 46-bus fleet are used for regular route service.
As a result, the buses have the feel of charter buses, Henry said. All are wheelchair accessible, feature live satellite TV service, enhanced leg room and extra wide seating.
In its new territory, Indian Trails will operate from Holland's Amtrak Depot at 171 Lincoln Ave. and from the Phoenix Plaza on Phoenix Rd at Int. 196 in South Haven.
The new Indian Trails route will provide a link between Amtrak trains in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. Passengers arriving in Kalamazoo on Amtrak's Wolverine service will make a direct connection to a noon Indian Trails coach bound for Grand Rapids and then to Holland and South Haven.
Amtrak passengers traveling through Holland and South Haven on the Pere Marquette and arriving in Grand Rapids at 10:20 p.m. will be able to reach Kalamazoo via the returning Indian Trails coach departing Grand Rapids at 10:50 p.m.
"With gasoline and costs of driving one's personal vehicle constantly on the rise, we're we're confident that passengers will find this new service to be economical and useful for their travel plans," Mackay said.