A Passenger Transport stopped in Princes Street, painted in maroon and cream, PT's colour scheme
Passenger Transport Citibus is the result of the takeover of Citibus by Invercargill Passenger Transport Ltd. It is a bus company which operates public transport routes in Dunedin and Invercargill as well as school transport services in those cities and Queenstown and leisure and tourism transport services throughout the South Island of New Zealand
Company history[]
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.
Invercargill Depot[]
After the formation of the company the Invercargill depot has been the head office of the company. From this depot since 1991 Passenger Transport has operated public transport in Invercargill under contract to the Invercargill City Council, much of this was done with the Previous Council owned bus fleet. In recent years the fleet has been upgraded and currently buses operate under the banner Of Bus Smart.
As well as urban bus services passenger transport also operate school services in Invercargill and previously outlying areas of Southland. Long distance services are also operated under the Naked Bus franchise and a charter fleet also exists which also provide transport to the Tiwai Point Smelter in Bluff.
Dunedin Depot[]
Passenger Transport was able to expand it operations to Dunedin in 1995 with annual tender rounds on urban bus services services in the city and has since 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, traces its roots back to its days as the municipal bus operator in Dunedin known as Dunedin City Transport (also variously called Dunedin Corporation Transport or 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 (nee Marshall) from Norma's uncle.[3] In 1990 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 exists to this day.
In 2006 it took over small long distance coach operator Wanaka Connexions.
By 2011, the Dunedin City Council felt Citibus was described by city mayor Dave Cull as "haemorrhaging money",[4] and the business was privatised; it is now owned by Invercargill Passenger Transport Ltd.[1] The new owners elected to retain the 'Citibus' brand, branding the service Passenger Transport Citibus,[5] but decided to sell the Connexions business.[6]
Christchurch Depot[]
The Christchurch depot is primarily a charter operation with a fleet of coaches for such purposes. It also operates 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 has been the major operator of Ministry of Education School Bus services in the Queenstown lakes area for some years. It also operates charter services in the area as well as Long Distance services to Christchurch under the Naked Bus franchise.
Tourism services[]
A Bristol double decker bus operated by PT Citibus subsidiary First City Tours providing sightseeing tours of Dunedin, at Dunedin Railway Station
- Tour coach services to package tour operators are provided under the Newtons brand.
- First City Tours provides a double decker bus sightseeing tour around Dunedin.
- Track & Trail is a combined coach and train service from Dunedin to Queenstown connecting with the Taieri Gorge Railway
Long distance services[]
Passenger Transport operates long distance service as part of other franchise networks:
- Atomic
- Southern Link
- nakedbus.com
Fleet history[]
Citibus and its predecessors operated Leyland vehicles for nearly 90 years before their last Leyland Leopard bus left service in 2011[7]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:Cite news
- ↑ Bus operators on New Zealand Omnibus Society website, viewed 2012-05-13
- ↑ Catherine Pattison "Heartfelt cheers all round" in Otago Daily Times, 04/09/2003
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ McCorkindale, Wilma Sustainability focus of changes for Citibus in D Scene newspaper, Dunedin, 27 April 2011, p3
- ↑ Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite news
External links[]
- PT Citibus website
- Fleet list on Gobus Wiki