Megabus catches fire outside of Chicago; no injuries

The bus caught fire on the southbound side of Route 41, between Route 176 and the Lake Forest Hospital, according to reports from NBC and the Sun-Times.

He said the driver, after stopping on the shoulder several times, announced they had to turn back and change buses.

Peterson spoke with a handful of his fellow passengers, many of whom had lost possessions and luggage.

“Some people said they smelled burning”, Lucas Peterson, a New York Times columnist who happened to be on board, said.

The bus was en route to Minneapolis when the driver pulled over because a tire blew out.

Sure, the adage is “you get what you pay for”, but travelers on tight budgets choose Megabus because it’s cheap and fairly reliable. Peterson said a University of St. Thomas student lost textbooks worth hundreds of dollars along with other personal belongings. Read Peterson’s full account of the incident here.

‘Our maximum liability to you for any loss or damage to your luggage is $250 per passenger for any such loss or damage to luggage, ‘ Megabus’s terms and conditions say.

Less than five minutes later the bus was completely engulfed in flames, “the bus went boom!” After a string of accidents in 2012, the Department of Transportation shut down 26 bus companies, not including Megabus, that provided services down the East Coast. This approval was renewed in the fall of 2015. Megabus.com requires more hours off between shifts than is required by the federal and state regulators, has seat belts on our bus since 2007, and has had Global Positioning System tracking on all of our buses since 2006.

In general, studies have found that riding in buses is many times safer than traveling by vehicle.

“Safety is our top priority and Megabus.com is fully cooperating with the authorities with their investigation into the incident”.