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| Founded | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 2014 |
| Headquarters | Invercargill |
| Service area | Invercargill, Dunedin, Queenstown, Christchurch |
| Service type | bus service, inter-city coach service, coach charter |
| Fuel type | Diesel |
Invercargill Passenger Transport Ltd was a bus company which operated public transport routes in Dunedin and Invercargill as well as school transport services in those cities as well as Queenstown and leisure and tourism transport services throughout the South Island of New Zealand
Invercargill Passenger Transport was formed in 1991 through the privatisation of the Invercargill City Council bus fleet. In 1995 the company established a branch in Dunedin and has operated part of Dunedin's bus network since. It eventually expanded to have branches in Christchurch and Queenstown and for a period operated a fleet of coaches based in Auckland.
In early February 2014, Go Bus Transport agreed to purchase the urban, school, charter and special needs operations of Invercargill Passenger Transport, gaining around 200+ buses and depots in Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin, Invercargill and Gore. Go Bus took over Invercargill Passenger Transport on 1 April 2014.[ citation needed ]
Invercargill depot was the head office of the company. From this depot since 1991 Passenger Transport has operated public transport in Invercargill under contract to the Southland Regional Council initially and latterly the Invercargill City Council, much of this with the previous council-owned bus fleet.
As well as urban bus services, Passenger Transport also operate school services in Invercargill and outlying areas of Southland, New Zealand, inter-city coach services under the nakedbus.com franchise and a charter operation including worker transport to the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter in Bluff, New Zealand.
Passenger Transport was able to expand its operations to Dunedin in the 1995 annual tender rounds of urban bus services and held a large number of services in the city.
In 2011, Passenger Transport bought competitor Citibus from the Dunedin City Council. [1]
Citibus, previously called Citibus-Newton, began as the municipal transport service in Dunedin known at various times as Dunedin City Transport, Dunedin Corporation Transport, Dunedin Corporation Tramways or DCT. DCT operated Dunedin's cable car system and trams (some of which were built by private developers) as a municipal transport department of the Dunedin City Council. In the mid-1980s Rogernomics reforms, the department was incorporated as a Local Authority Trading Enterprise and named Citibus Ltd.
Newton's Coachways was a charter coach, sightseeing and school bus company and was formed from an earlier business Marshall Motors in 1962 [2] which was bought by Stewart Newton and Norma Newton ( née Marshall) from Norma's uncle. [3] In 1991 Newton's took over the Dunedin area services and fleet of the New Zealand Railways Road Services, then known as Cityline and re-branded it Newton's City Line. Newton's was taken over by Citibus in 1993, and the combined firm traded for many years as Citibus-Newton Ltd or CNL. It reverted to Citibus in 2005, but the Newton's brand for tour and charter coaches remained in use by Invercargill Passenger Transport.
In 2006 CNL took over inter-city coach operator Wanaka Connexions.
By 2011, Citibus was described by city mayor Dave Cull as "haemorrhaging money", [4] and the Dunedin City Council decided the business should be privatised. [1] The new owners elected to retain the 'Citibus' naming, branding the Dunedin operation Passenger Transport Citibus, [5] but decided to sell the Connexions business. [6]
The Christchurch depot was primarily a charter operation with a fleet of coaches for such purposes. It also operated tour and long-distance bus services to other cities of the South Island. Previously the company operated limited urban bus services in the city.
Passenger Transport was the major operator of Ministry of Education school bus services in the Queenstown Lakes area for some years. It also operated charter services in the area as well as long-distance services to Christchurch under the nakedbus.com franchise.
Passenger Transport operated Tour coach services to package tour operators were provided under the Newtons brand and a double decker bus sightseeing tour around Dunedin under the brand First City Tours.
Passenger Transport operated inter-city coach services as part of other franchise networks:
Citibus and its predecessors operated Leyland vehicles for nearly 90 years before their last Leyland Leopard bus left service in 2011 [7]
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The city has a rich Māori, Scottish, and Chinese heritage.
The Kingston Flyer is a vintage steam train in the South Island of New Zealand at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu. It used 14 kilometres of preserved track that once formed a part of the Kingston Branch. Originally, Kingston Flyer was a passenger express train between Kingston, Gore, Invercargill, and less frequently, Dunedin. It was operated by the New Zealand Railways (NZR) from the 1890s to 1957. In 1971, NZR revitalised the service as a tourist venture, later leasing the locomotives and rolling stock in 1982 to a private company. Since then, the Kingston Flyer has been through a number of owners, most recently being owned by the Kingston Flyer Ltd. A group of volunteers has restored the railway, rolling stock and locomotives to service. In July 2021 the Kingston Flyer received resource consent to operate, initially for tour groups.
Mount Cook Airline was a regional airline based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Formerly part of the Mount Cook Group and latterly a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, it operated scheduled services throughout the country under the Air New Zealand Link brand. In December 2019, the brand name was retired with all services operated under the Air New Zealand banner.
Dunedin Airport, officially Dunedin International Airport, also known as Momona Airport, is an international airport in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand, serving Dunedin city and the Otago and Southland regions. Dunedin Airport is one of two international airports in Otago, the other being Queenstown International Airport. It is located adjacent to the village of Momona on the Taieri Plains approximately 22 kilometres south west of Dunedin CBD. It is the fifth busiest airport in New Zealand by passengers.
The Southerner was a passenger express train in New Zealand's South Island between Christchurch and Invercargill along the South Island Main Trunk, that ran from 1970 to 2002. It was one of the premier passenger trains in New Zealand and its existence made Invercargill the southernmost passenger station in the world.
Invercargill Airport is a fully secured controlled international designated airport located 1.6 km west of the Central business district of Invercargill at the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southernmost controlled airport in the Commonwealth. Formed on land reclaimed from the Waihopai/New River Estuary in 1938, the airport was prone to flooding, notably in 1984 when it was inoperable for two months. The Invercargill City Council considered moving the airport back to Dawson Farm, Myross Bush, the original site up to 1942. Instead, a large flood protection scheme was built, but during its construction heavy rain and an unusually high tidal surge flooded it again in 1987. There have been no problems since. The airport has a main secured terminal, a backup international secured terminal and 5 tarmac gates. Invercargill is the eleventh-busiest airport in New Zealand by passenger traffic.
The New Zealand Railways Road Services (NZRRS) was a branch of the New Zealand Railways Department and later the New Zealand Railways Corporation. It operated long-distance, tourist and suburban bus services and freight trucking and parcel services. Its name was New Zealand Railways Road Motor Service until mid-1936.
The public transport system of Otago centres around the cities of Dunedin and Queenstown, under the brand name Orbus. Public transport in the region is provided using buses and ferries. Despite sharing a name, the systems in Dunedin and Queenstown are isolated from one another.
InterCity is a passenger transport and tourism company in New Zealand. Its parent company is Entrada Travel Group, whose main owners are Ritchies Transport and the Tranzit Group. Entrada operates the country's only long distance bus network, and ferries and cruises in the Bay of Islands.
Ritchies Transport is a New Zealand private bus operator, owned by KKR. It was established in 1972 and describes itself as "the largest privately owned bus and coach transport operator in New Zealand" with a fleet of over 1500 vehicles spread across depots nationwide. It owns a 46% stake in InterCity.
Transport in Invercargill, New Zealand is mostly by bus and private car.
Urban bus transport is the main form of public transport in New Zealand. Two of the country's largest cities, Auckland and Wellington, also have suburban rail systems, while some cities also operate local ferry services. There are no rapid transit metros and no remaining tram systems active anywhere in New Zealand, though trams once had a major role in New Zealand's public transport.
Environmental Performance Vehicles (EPV), previously DesignLine Corporation, is a manufacturer of coach, electric and range-extended electric (hybrid) buses. It was founded in Ashburton, New Zealand in 1985. Initially it was a manufacturer of tour coaches. In the 1990s it diversified into conventional transit buses and then added hybrid city buses in the late 1990s. It was acquired by American interests in 2006, and DesignLine Corporation's headquarters was relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina. Following a bankruptcy in 2013, the assets of DesignLine were sold and the company was renamed.
Cobb & Co is the name of a company that operated a fleet of stagecoaches in Australia in the late 19th century. Cobb & Co itself did not operate in New Zealand officially but its name was used by many private stage coach operators.
Trams in New Zealand were a major form of transport from the 19th century into the mid-20th century. New Zealand's first (horse) tramway was established in 1862 (Nelson), followed by a steam tramway in 1871 (Thames), and the first electric tramway in 1900. In New Zealand railway terminology a bush tramway is an industrial tramway, which usually did not carry passengers.
Leopard Coachlines is a tour bus service operator based in Christchurch, New Zealand, with a depot in Auckland. It operates tourist coach trips, charter services to Mount Hutt ski field, and tours for schools and groups.
Go Bus or Gobus may refer to:
Mainland Air is a general aviation, flight training and air charter company operating out of Dunedin International Airport in New Zealand.
Go Bus Transport Ltd is a large bus company operating in New Zealand owned by Australian-based transport operator Kinetic Group. The company is based in Hamilton, New Zealand, and runs bus services in Hamilton, Hawke's Bay, Tauranga, Christchurch, Gisborne, Dunedin and Invercargill.
Great Journeys New Zealand is the tourism division of KiwiRail that operate its three Scenic train services. The new division was launched in May 2017 and replaced the former tourism brand KiwiRail Scenic Journeys. It has continuity with the earlier InterCity Rail (1987–1995) and Tranz Scenic (1995–2011).
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