A new Midlands bus station with routes to regional cities is in the works. Here’s where
An intercity bus station with direct routes to other regional cities, and connections to larger, Northeastern stops, could be coming to an old sandwich shop in West Columbia.
Southeastern Stages, a charter bus company based in Atlanta, is set to move its Columbia-area location, which has operated just off Interstate 20 in north Columbia for a decade, from Richland County to the old Steve’s sandwich shop at 1471 Platt Springs Road. The city’s board of zoning appeals approved the business’s request for a zoning variance to run routes and operate a ticket office Feb. 18.
The move from Columbia to West Columbia comes as a result of the station’s longtime space at 710 Buckner Road being taken over by the existing Stanley Steemer location that shares the building, explained Ted Gohl, the bus company’s franchise manager in Columbia. Southeastern Stages shares the existing space with Greyhound, a different charter bus company.
Southeastern, which has been in operation since 1933, will offer direct routes to and from six southeastern cities – Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta and Savannah. From those cities, riders would be able to take other buses to larger cities like New York and Washington, D.C. A one-way ticket from Columbia to Myrtle Beach runs around $44, according to the company’s website.
Buses would be set to run from around 7 a.m. to midnight, according to documents provided by the company to the city. That area of Platt Springs Road sees an average of around 10,500 cars each day, according to state Department of Transportation data.
Southeastern Stages’ Gohl, told the city’s board of zoning appeals that traffic or congestion at the stop shouldn’t be a concern. He estimated that the busiest time for the bus stop would be around 3 p.m. and there would be around three buses there at that time. Gohl told the board most people who ride purchase their tickets online.
This story was originally published February 19, 2025 at 1:42 PM.
