A struggle over whether Greyhound can halve bus service between Kelowna and Calgary has ended in a split decision.

Greyhound wanted to cut the money-losing service to one bus a day on the mountainous route that winds through small towns and villages in British Columbia's Kootenays region.

Following hearings throughout the Southern Interior, the provincial Public Transportation Board has put the brakes on that bid.

In the end, spokesman Jan Brooke said, the board returned with a compromise, ordering 10 return trips a week. Brooke said the board felt 10 trips "would meet the public need."

Nelson Coun. Donna MacDonald said her first thought when she heard there would be service reductions was "we need to be enhancing public transit, not reducing it," but in the end she called the decision a reasonable compromise.

Greyhound, which refused to comment on the decision, had been angling for months for concessions from the federal government.