Cyr Bus Lines acquires charter, tour company

OLD TOWN – Cyr Bus Lines acquired Maine Line Tours & Charters of South Portland Friday. It was a major acquisition, making Joseph Cyr the owner and president of the largest tour bus and charter company in Maine.

With the acquisition, John T. Cyr & Sons Inc. (the company’s official name) will own about 200 vehicles, including school buses, coaches, vans and minibuses.

The company was started in 1912 by Joseph Cyr’s grandfather and has recorded steady growth. Its mainstay has been school transportation, with about 125 school buses operating in scores of Maine towns. About 29 coaches take vacationers on trips to locations as varied as New York’s Broadway, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn., and Foxwoods casino in Connecticut. With the purchase of Maine Line, Cyr will offer about 125 tours a year. That business is managed by Michael Cyr, Joseph’s son.

Maine Line has been operating as a division of Peter Pan Bus Lines of Springfield, Mass. Cyr said he had been contemplating the purchase for several years. Cyr provides a lot of charter service to Bowdoin, Bates and Colby colleges and he said the acquisition will make that work more efficient for him.

It also will offer Cyr more options in the more populous Portland market. Maine Line has employed about 70 people. Cyr anticipates keeping about 55 of them. They will join the 190 he already employs, making a total of almost 250.

Cyr said Maine Line will operate on leased land on Main Street in South Portland.