Greyhound passengers claim bus stranded them downstate

EFFINGHAM, Ill. (WLS) -- Some Greyhound passengers are upset after they say a bus driver left them stranded for several hours in a downstate town.

The bus left Memphis, Tenn., heading for Chicago. The driver allegedly dropped the passengers off in Effingham, Ill., drove off and never returned.

The passengers said that apart from not knowing how long they would be without their bus, they say they tried turning to Greyhound customer service for answers, but didn't get any help.

It's four hours late, but it's finally here. The bus that left Memphis Monday night bound for Chicago pulled into the Greyhound station on Tuesday afternoon.

Levone Stewart is happy to be home. He's returning from visiting his daughter in Memphis and says a scheduled stop in downstate Effingham turned into a nightmare. He says it was 5 a.m. when passengers got off the bus for a 20 minute rest stop, while the driver left with the bus to pick up another driver to continue the trip.

But then came the announcement that it would be two hours before the trip could resume. He says about 40 passengers were stranded.

"We had a lady with a baby and no diapers or food because it's all on the bus," said Stewart.

He says he and other passengers tried calling Greyhound customer service for answers, but didn't get any.

"It just didn't seem like the care and concern was there, we had to ask other buses pulling up, can you call, can you do this, can you do that," said Anthony Carter, passenger.

The passengers ended up waiting much longer than expected.

"So we waited, and two turned into three, and three turned into almost four hours. We finally got out about 9 o'clock," said Stewart.

Finally, another driver returned with the bus and they resumed their trip. But Stewart, who has traveled by bus several times, says the experience left a bad impression.

"It was frustrating because we're getting no answers," said Stewart.

Greyhound has apologized for the situation and says it has issued travel vouchers to their customers to make up for the inconvenience.