2 N.B. universities chartering buses for students

Two New Brunswick universities are helping students stranded by the Acadian Coach Lines lockout get home for the holidays.

The student unions at the University of New Brunswick andSt. Thomas Universityhave chartered buses to take students from Fredericton to Saint John, Moncton or Amherst, N.S.

"This is a very stressful time of year for students. The term is ... just winding down. People are writing exams. They have final projects and papers that they need to hand in," said Joey O'Kane, the vice-president external for the UNB student union.

"So the fact that people have to now worry about how to get home just kind of adds to everything," he said.

Exams at the school end on Tuesday.The bus is scheduled to leave at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

"We've been noticing a surplus of students who are basically stuck in Fredericton and they're looking to get home. So instead of having to force their parents to come all the way from Nova Scotia or Moncton or wherever they may be coming from, we decided to charter a bus," O'Kane said.

Ticket costs for the UNB bus start at $25 for travellers going to Saint John, $30 for Moncton and $40 for Amherst.

St. Thomas University's student union announced on Tuesday it would be chartering a bus Sunday for its students.

Students planning to take the UNB charteredbus need to make reservations.