South Africa’s biggest luxury and long-distance bus operators Greyhound has blamed Covid-19, travel bans, and closed borders for its demise.
Greyhound, a long-distance luxury coach company announced yesterday that they were shutting down their operations after 37 years of being in service, citing viability challenges emanating from a prolonged lockdown that has resulted in a decline in travel.
In a statement, on Wednesday evening, Greyhound and Citiliner owner Unitrans Passenger said the regulations limiting inter-provincial travel and coach occupancy levels, and the closure of the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders accelerated the demise of the company.
“Declining passenger numbers and poor regulatory compliance in the bus passenger industry has resulted in both our brands – Greyhound and Citiliner – incurring significant losses for several years,”
“The impact of Covid-19 regulations limiting inter-provincial travel and coach occupancy levels, and the closure of the Zimbabwe and Mozambique borders have exacerbated the situation,” said Unitrans Passenger in a statement.
According to the TimesLive, the Grey Hound and City Liner luxury bus company which has been plying several domestic and regional routes have been struggling in staying afloat ever since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said Greyhound’s demise was going to be a serious blow to a number of workers who were employed at Greyhound.
“About 693 employees will be affected by the contemplated closure of the companies Greyhound, Magic Bus, and Megabus Midrand. Should Unitrans close, this would be a serious blow to workers and their families.”
