Bus Company Gives Up Routes After Fire, Drunken Driver Incidents
Following two recent public transport ordeals, one involving a fire and the other a drunken bus driver, Estonia's largest county transit bus operator today offered to forgo two routes.
In January, a bus burst into flames next to a filling station in Saue when its driver tried starting the engine. The bus had been carrying passengers, but no one was injured. Authorities later discovered that the bus, which was destroyed by the fire, had been operating without having undergone a mandatory technical inspection.
Then, on Tuesday, the driver of another Saue-Tallinn bus was caught drunk behind the wheel.
The operator, Harjumaa Liinid, said it would discontinue serving the 190 and 190A bus routes, which will be taken over by Hansaliinid on Monday.
According to the Harjumaa Liinid website, the company is the biggest county route operator in Estonia, with 48 routes passing through all of Estonia's municipalities.