Peter Pan Bus Lines will operate all Megabus routes through Baltimore starting Friday.
Coach USA, the former owner of Megabus, filed for bankruptcy in June and Delaware courts started facilitating the sale of its assets. In a June news release the company said ridership remained “well below” pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.
Peter Pan Bus Lines said in a news release Thursday that it is “taking over” all Megabus routes in New England and the mid-Atlantic.
The Renco Group, a holding company owned by billionaire Ira Rennert, moved to acquire Megabus, and the sale is still moving through the courts and dependent on Coach USA not receiving a higher bid, according to court documents.
According to court documents from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Coach USA owes Wells Fargo nearly $38 million in loan payments, as well as nearly $7 million in unpaid rent in California and New Jersey. Coach USA also owes over $12 million from settled litigation, according to court documents, and has $100 million to $500 million in both assets and liabilities. Courts are also supervising the sale of a host of other Coach USA assets, according to court documents.
For Friday afternoon from Baltimore to New York City without stops in between, Peter Pan bus tickets are for sale for $35 to $39. The company is operating buses out of the Baltimore Greyhound Bus Station as well as the White Marsh parking lot.
Megabus is still selling tickets online for trips out of White Marsh on Friday for $44 to$47 with a note that the trip will be operated by Peter Pan.
Peter Pan CEO Peter Picknelly said in the release that his company has reduced fares by close to 40%, hired 75 new drivers, and purchased 45 new buses.
