Invercargill Passenger Transport Ltd was a

bus company A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used i ...

which operated public transport routes in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

and

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

as well as school transport services in those cities as well as Queenstown and

leisure Leisure (, ) has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, Employment, work, job hunting, Housekeeping, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as ...

and tourism transport services throughout the South Island of New Zealand

Company history

Invercargill Passenger Transport was formed in 1991 through the

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of the

City Council bus fleet. In 1995 the company established a branch in

and has operated part of Dunedin's bus network since. It eventually expanded to have branches in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and Queenstown and for a period operated a fleet of coaches based in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Sold to Go Bus Transport Ltd

In early February 2014,

Go Bus Transport Go Bus Transport Ltd (Go Bus Regional) is a bus company operating in New Zealand owned by Australian-based transport operator Kinetic Group. The company runs regional bus services in Hamilton, Napier, New Zealand#Buses, Hawke's Bay, Tauranga#Bus ...

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.

Invercargill depot

Invercargill depot was the head office of the company. From this depot since 1991 Passenger Transport has operated

public transport in Invercargill Transport in Invercargill, New Zealand is mostly by bus and private car. Roads Invercargill is the southernmost city on New Zealand's state highway network and is linked to Fiordland and the Catlins by the Southern Scenic Route and Dunedin and Gor ...

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 Southland () is New Zealand's southernmost Regions of New Zealand, region. It consists of the southwestern portion of the South Island and includes Stewart Island. Southland is bordered by the culturally similar Otago, Otago Region to the north ...

, inter-city coach services under the

nakedbus.com nakedbus.com was a provider of low-cost long-distance bus (coachline) transport services around New Zealand. It used concepts such as yield management and no-frills to provide low fares. The company is so-named because "we have stripped out the ...

franchise and a charter operation including worker transport to the

Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is an Aluminium smelting, aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto (corporation), Rio Tinto Group, via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Limited. The facility, New Zealand's only aluminiu ...

Bluff, New Zealand Bluff (), previously known as Campbelltown and often referred to as "The Bluff", is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand serving as the main port of Invercargill. It is the south ...

Dunedin Depot

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 The Dunedin City Council () is the Local government in New Zealand, local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since O ...

. 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

. In the mid-1980s

Rogernomics Rogernomics (a portmanteau of ''Roger'' and ''economics'' modelled on Reaganomics) were the neoliberal economic reforms promoted by Roger Douglas, the Minister of Finance between 1984 and 1988 in the Fourth Labour Government of New Zealan ...

reforms, the department was incorporated as a

Local Authority Trading Enterprise A local authority trading enterprise (LATE) was an organisation established in New Zealand under the Local Government Act 1974. The 1989 legislation assigned regional councils planning and funding responsibilities, but not the transport supplier ...

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 which was bought by Stewart Newton and Norma Newton (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Marshall) from Norma's uncle. In 1991 Newton's took over the Dunedin area services and fleet of the

New Zealand Railways Road Services 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 truck driver, trucking an ...

, 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 A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

for tour and charter coaches remained in use by Invercargill Passenger Transport. In 2006 CNL took over

inter-city Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance co ...

coach operator Wanaka Connexions. By 2011, Citibus was described by city mayor

Dave Cull David Charles Cull (1 April 1950 – 27 April 2021) was the mayor of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand. He became the 57th Mayor of Dunedin in October 2010 and was re-elected in both the 2013 mayoralty race and 2016 mayoral election. Before ...

as "

haemorrhaging Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, va ...

money", and the Dunedin City Council decided the business should be

privatised Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation wh ...

. The new owners elected to retain the 'Citibus' naming, branding the Dunedin operation Passenger Transport Citibus,McCorkindale, Wilma ''Sustainability focus of changes for Citibus'' in '' D Scene'' newspaper, Dunedin, 27 April 2011, p3 but decided to sell the Connexions business.

Christchurch depot

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.

Queenstown depot

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

franchise.

Tourism services

Passenger Transport operated Tour coach services to

package tour A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the h ...

operators were provided under the ''Newtons'' brand and a

double decker bus A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. Double-deckers are used primarily for commuter transport, but Open top bus, open-top models are used as sightseeing buses for tourists, and there are Coach (bus), coaches too for long-d ...

sightseeing tour around

under the brand First City Tours.

Long distance services

Passenger Transport operated inter-city coach services as part of other franchise networks: * Atomic * Southern Link *

Fleet history

Citibus and its predecessors operated Leyland vehicles for nearly 90 years before their last

Leyland Leopard The Leyland Leopard was a mid-engine design, mid-engined single-decker bus and single-decker bus, single-decker coach (bus), coach chassis manufactured by Leyland Bus, Leyland between 1959 and 1982. History The Leyland Leopard was introduced ...

bus left service in 2011

References

External links

Gobus website
{{Bus transport in New Zealand Bus companies of New Zealand Transport in Dunedin Transport in Otago Transport in the Southland Region