What was to be a nice New Year’s Eve in New York almost turned into a nightmare for about fifty Quebecers, prisoners of their bus since last night.
These tourists, who had booked this trip on the Tourika.com site, found themselves stuck in a coach of the company La Québécoise because of a puncture, which occurred around 6:15 am Monday morning on the edge of highway 87, at the height of Elizabethtown, New York.
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“We have been in the same place since 6:15 am this morning. We left Quebec at 12:30 am, ”Véronique Lamarre, a passenger, explained to TVA Nouvelles.
“We called on the bus company. They told us that they were sending us another vehicle. Finally after that, they chose to send us a “towing”. We had nothing, we have not yet eaten, ”she continued, exhausted.
An American tugboat that heard their call for help came out to help them out and the flat tire was repaired around 3 p.m.
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The bus did not leave immediately, however, as a vehicle alarm sounded without the driver being able to identify the problem.
The driver finally decided to hit the road until the next exit, to the annoyance of some passengers who did not feel safe due to the winter conditions in the area.
“We are very angry with the company because they don’t seem to have a plan B. We have been abandoned. Everyone is tired. We didn’t really sleep. We are also losing a day of travel. It’s disappointing, ”Ms. Lamarre had denounced.
After stopping at a gas station to do several checks, the bus resumed the road towards the Big Apple shortly before 5 p.m. Passengers will therefore have spent more than 10 hours in the vehicle on the highway.
The bus company reacts
The director of corporate affairs at Groupe La Québécoise, Pierre Tremblay, finally decided to comment on this event.
He explained that his company was dealing with Michelin for this kind of breakdown and that it was the tire company that was responsible for dealing with this kind of unforeseen situation: normally, everything must be settled within two hours.
A first tow vehicle arrived on site around 9 a.m., but was unable to complete the job as it took heavy equipment to change the tire.
Mr. Tremblay said he did not yet understand why it took so long for a second tow truck to arrive on site.
He apologized for the situation and indicated that a follow-up would be done with Michelin.
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