Greyhound is reversing course just days after confirming that bus service to Paducah had been eliminated.
A spokesman for the intercity bus line confirmed its timeline Wednesday for restoring service in the far western Kentucky city, where it’s operated buses consistently for more than nine decades.
Mike Ogulnick, a public relations manager for Greyhound and FlixBus, confirmed in an email that bus service will resume in Paducah on Oct. 21 with two daily departures.
Brian Mannon owns and operates M&M Transportation, a local company that operates a bus station on Paducah’s Southside and contracts with Greyhound to sell tickets. He’s sold Greyhound tickets in western Kentucky for more than 30 years.
“The thing that gets me is that the service was cut at all and obviously that I wasn't told anything in advance, but it's not so much about me. I would understand if they said, ‘Well, it's not viable to have a station there anymore’ because ticketing’s done a lot online, digitally and [in] smartphone apps and all that stuff,” Mannon said. “I would understand that, but just cutting the schedules out completely without at least putting a stop here … that there was kind of just made me wonder what their thinking process was on that because it's really needed through this area.”
Mannon said the intercity bus line terminated service in Paducah without announcement after the last bus departed the morning of Oct. 12. When the company confirmed it had terminated service, the spokesman had said Greyhound could return to Paducah “if the amount of business makes it feasible.”
Since the shutdown, community nonprofits, governmental agencies and local businesses have expressed concerns about finding other services to fill transportation needs for clients, employees and other people who need rides.
The company saw a major decrease in fares during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a CNBC report. That downturn was followed by the shutdown of all Greyhound services in Canada and the sale of Greyhound Lines Inc. to FlixMobility, a German transportation startup, in 2021.
