Gray Coach - Overview and History

Overview and History

Gray Coach Lines was a suburban bus operator founded in 1927 by the Toronto Transportation Commission. From 1927 to the 1930s, Gray Coach acquired numerous and smaller competitors in the Greater Toronto Area. The operator eventually dominated inter-urban bus service by the end of the 1930s. Gray Coach used inter-urban coaches to link Toronto to outlying areas throughout Southern Ontario, such as Owen Sound, London, Kitchener, Guelph, Niagara Falls, Sudbury, North Bay, Barrie and Hamilton. Gray Coach also offered service to Buffalo, and in a pooling agreement with Greyhound, to New York City. In addition, Gray Coach operated sightseeing tour service in and around Toronto, eventually in association with Gray Line tours. The Gray Coach Lines also provided one-hour Motor Launch Tours of the lagoons off Toronto's harbour and of the waterfront. The main terminal was at the Toronto Bus Terminal on Elizabeth Street, downtown. A secondary terminal for parcel service was operated at the corner of Front St. and Sherbourne St.

Gray Coach was contracted to operate GO Transit bus service when the latter was inaugurated in 1971. Eventually some Gray Coach routes were incorporated to operate under GO Transit, including the routes to Hamilton, Oshawa and Port Perry. The contracting of GO Transit bus services ended in 1985, when GO Transit began to fully operate its bus services independently.

By the 1980s, Gray Coach faced fierce competition in inter-urban service in the Greater Toronto Area. In order to strengthen its position, Gray Coach bid to acquire inter-urban operator Trentway-Wagar Ltd. Facing budgetary pressure, the TTC decided to focus on its basic urban transit service. The TTC agreed to sell Gray Coach Lines in 1990 to British carrier Stagecoach Holdings Ltd. Stagecoach sold it to Greyhound Lines of Canada and Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services in 1993.

Gray Coach's Gray Line franchised tour operations were taken over by Greyhound Lines of Canada.