Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines, commonly called Voyageur Colonial or just Voyageur, was a Canadian intercity bus company that serves Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec, primarily the cities of Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston, Toronto. It has been owned by

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

since 1998, and the Voyageur brand has essentially disappeared as Greyhound has renewed its fleet.

History

PD-4107 coach of Colonial Lines in Ontario in 1968

Voyageur Colonial Limited was incorporated on January 7, 1928, as Colonial Coach Lines Ltd., which ran buses between Renfrew, Ottawa, Morrisburg and

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

. In 1930 Colonial was purchased by the Provincial Transport Company (la Compagnie de Transport-Provincial), which had been incorporated in November 1928 and acquired 31 bus lines in the Montreal area in June 1929. Colonial expanded during the 1930s and 1940s, acquiring many other operators, including the Toronto–Montreal Road Coach Line, the J. Gill Bus Line, Collacutt Coach Lines, Kawartha Lakes Coach Lines and Pony Bus Lines Ltd. In Quebec, Provincial was affiliated with the Montreal Tramways Company until 1948. Operations included intercity bus service throughout the province and transit operations (through subsidiaries) in Sherbrooke,

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

, Kingston and elsewhere. In 1969, after 40 years of operation, all of Provincial Transport Enterprises' subsidiaries were unified under the Voyageur name. At the same time, Colonial Coach Lines was renamed Voyageur Colonial Ltd. Voyageur 4503

At various times Voyageur operated a number of subsidiaries, including Voyageur Abitibi (based in Val d'Or), Voyageur Inc., Voyageur Provincial (both headquartered in Montréal) and Voyageur Quebec. By 1981 the company was owned by Canada Steamship Lines Inc., 50% owned by Paul Martin's family. The Quebec routes were sold to other operators over the following decade, and in 1994 Greyhound purchased key Ottawa and Toronto routes from Voyageur. In 1998 CSL sold Voyageur to

Greyhound Canada Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC began as a local British Columbia bus line in the early 1920s, expanded across most of Canada, and became a subsidiary of the US Greyhound in 1940. In 2018, Greyhound pulled out of Western Canada, preserving ...

, which in turn is owned by the UK-based

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Gare d'autocars de Montréal Gare d'autocars de Montréal ( en, Montreal Coach Terminal) is a bus terminal located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the departure and arrival point for most inter-city buses. Nearly 300 buses serve the terminal per day. The station is conne ...

Kingston Bus Terminal Kingston Bus Terminal is the inter-city bus station in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is at 1175 John Counter Boulevard, adjoining the Kingston Transit head office and bus garage. This location is in the northern portion of Kingston near Highway ...

* Ottawa Central Station

References

External links

Greyhound Canada

Greyhound Canada - historical timeline

{{FirstGroup Transport companies established in 1928 FirstGroup companies Bus transport in Ontario Bus transport in Quebec Companies based in Montreal Defunct intercity bus companies of Canada 1928 establishments in Ontario Canadian companies established in 1928