Metrobus chair fires back over new station

St. John's Metrobus board chair Tom Hann is denying talks are already underway to set up a new transfer station at the former School for the Deaf.

Liberal candidate George Joyce told CBC News Friday the provincial government was suggesting the site as a replacement for the station at the Village Mall. He said passengers, including seniors, could be forced to cross Topsail Road just to catch a bus. 

Transit commission chair Tom Hann responded that it would not happen that way.

"If we went to that site — if we did — it would not interfere with anything else and it would be properly designed and if there were people affected in neighbourhoods over there, we'd simply put a bus stop in there," he said. "A transfer station is a transfer station. The bus pulls up, you get off the bus, you get on another one, and it takes you to whatever area you want to go."

Hann said he still has no idea where the new transfer station is going to be.

"We have put out feelers to a number of people, including the private sector, and we put out feelers to the government. The government owns land in the area as well as the private sector. We have not met with the government as of yet," he said.

Metrobus has to find a new transfer location in the west end because the Village Mall is evicting it from the mall parking lot.