Thirty of the luxury coaches which were bought to transport Heads of Governments during the Fifth Summit of the Americas and Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meetings last year, have been added to the PTSC fleet for public use. "If it's good enough for the Heads of Government, Prime Ministers and Presidents, it certainly will serve the general public very well," Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert said as he opened the PTSC Deluxe Coach Service Passenger Lounge at King's Wharf, San Fernando, yesterday. The lounge, which previously housed the old San Fernando Post Office, was converted at a cost of $1.5 million to provide seating for 120, ticket counters, washrooms and a cafeteria. However, North/South commuters will have to wait until next Wednesday to use the service, as the receiving facility on St Vincent Street, Port-of- Spain, was still being refurbished.
The cost to travel on these buses, which have a capacity of 57 seats, aircraft-type seating, individual controlled overhead lighting, in-house entertainment facilitated with DVD screens and audio systems, would be $10 as opposed to the regular buses which cost $6 from North to South. The service will begin at 5 am, ending at 7 to 8 pm, with the first stop during the peak period being at Gasparillo flyover in the South and at Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex in the North. Questioned about the feasibility of the service, which would compete with the water taxi service as well as the regular PTSC service, Imbert said the need was great as there were some 200,000 commuters travelling to south north, east and west.
"PTSC runs a bus service during the day. Those buses are running full. This is just to supplement that. This is an option. People can choose what kind of service they want–luxury or main stream," he explained. The minister said over the past five years, PTSC had increased its fleet from 80 in 2001 to 350 to date and that figure was expected to be enhanced to over 400 with the introduction of 65 more buses by mid-year. "There is tremendous demand for the service, since PTSC began to expand its fleet, because the buses are modern. Older buses were not air-conditioned. They frequently broke down and, I am sure, these state-of-the-art buses are going to be over-subscribed." Imbert said the introduction of the service would in no way derail the proposed rapid rail system as Government's intention was to provide a multi-model system and the option to use buses, water taxi, railway or their own vehicles. "There is a place for everything, a railway service, a bus service and a water taxi service. That's what a developed country offers you," he said.
