INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — It was supposed to be the ideal way to travel back to Indianapolis from an ideal weekend in Chicago, but it turned out to be anything but ideal.
A three-hour Megabus ride from Chicago to Indy turned into a mega marathon bus ride, it became a nine-hour nightmare.
Megabus is a large part of the Indy's ground transportation hub to and from Chicago. But on Sunday, Megabus was more like a mega-bust for two Indianapolis passengers.
"The ABS light is on. It's telling me 'your brakes are not working now.' The transmission light is on. The engine light is flashing service engine. Low oil," Greg Lubkeman a passenger from Indianapolis told Eyewitness News.
The bus Lubkeman was riding back from Chicago started out three hours late, and that was only the beginning.
"She gets out of that exit. As we roll to the stop sign, it dies," another passenger, Pascal LeGuellec said.
They were stranded for an hour in Hammond, Indiana. The bus driver was able to get it running again before it broke down a second time in Gary.
"She probably made 10 phone calls between Gary and Chicago to her company, telling them the bus just stopped in the middle of the toll road. The bus just came to a complete stop. It just stopped," Lubkemen said.
The passengers headed for Cincinnati were given more bad news: A replacement bus on the way had 20 available seats and the route would now be ending in Indianapolis. If passengers were going to make it to Cincinnati Sunday night, it would not be by Megabus.
"People were getting $400 Uber rides to Cincinnati from Gary, Indiana because she told them 'dD what you got to do to get out of here,'" Lubkemen said.
Lubkemen and LeGuellac did get emails about the inconvenience.
"Dear Pascal, we are aware of the breakdown that occurred on your bus from Chicago, Illinois," LeGuellec read from the email.
"You should listen to the bus driver. It's no different than an airline pilot. If a plane is not worthy to fly, then don't go. This bus should not go if the bus driver told you over and over this bus is not road worthy," an emotional Lubkemen added.
The bad news didn't stop when the second bus finally did arrive around midnight in Indianapolis.
The folks who were waiting in Indianapolis for the bus to take them to Cincinnati got the bad news. This was the end of the road.
We have no word what they had to do to make their destination.
Megabus Director of Corporate Affairs Sean Hughes issued the following statement to WTHR Monday afternoon:
"Megabus.com can confirm that one of our buses on August 5, 2018 experienced operational issues, which caused multiple delays. Megabus.com is fully refunding the passengers and apologizes for the inconvenience."