New Zealand Railways Road Services
The New Zealand Railways Road Services (NZRRS) was a branch of the
services. Its name was New Zealand Railways Road Motor Service until mid-1936.History
The first bus operation by NZR began on 1 October 1907, between
In November 1926, NZR purchased a private bus firm operating between
There was a certain amount of rivalry within NZR between NZRRS and the rail Traffic Branch and in many ways they
Fleet
Early years of the Road Services saw many different brands of buses acquired with the various constituent companies. From Ford Model T-based cars to Straker steam trucks, to various Albion, Cadillac, Dodge and Leyland buses. The builders of the bodies were many and various.
Leading up to World War II, standardisation was the call. During the 1940s Ford V8 and Bedford truck chassis with New Zealand Motor Bodies (NZMB) became the standard NZRRS bus.
In 1950 a 24-seat, forward-control Commer was introduced on the Gisborne-Auckland route.[4] During the 1950s NZRRS began to widely use the Bedford SB chassis fitted with NZMB bodies. So much so, that the Bedford SB was ordered right up until 1980. NZRRS eventually bought 1,240 of these chassis, which were used in suburban, local rural, and long-distance service. This was the largest fleet of Bedford SB buses in the world.[1]
During the late 1970s NZRRS, like many other operators, was having issues with the general reliability of their fleet. Orders were made to Volvo and Hino in an effort to find a better vehicle. Hino and Volvo buses and coaches were purchased right up until the end of the NZRRS.
Restructuring
In 1985 the land operations of NZRC was restructured into market-based bi-modal (road and rail) business groups, rather than branches based on mode of transport,[2] and as part of the new Passenger Business Group, NZRRS was split into three brands:
- InterCity - long-haul passenger services
- Cityline - urban passenger services
- Speedlink - parcels services
The freight trucking business was combined with rail freight into the Freight Business Group, branded Railfreight Systems.[2]
Privatisation
Road and rail services were separated in 1991 when the rail and ferry operations of New Zealand Railways Corporation were transferred to New Zealand Rail Limited and the road transport operations were sold:[2]
- InterCity buses was sold in 1991 to InterCity Management Limited,coach companies - Whangarei Bus Company, Bayline Group, Ritchies Transport, Tranzit Group, Pacific Tourways, Guthreys Coachlines and Nelson SBL[6]
- Cityline in Newton's Coachways; New Plymouth to Waitarataken over by Withatruck Coachlines
- Speedlink Parcels was sold to New Zealand Post.
References
Citations
- ^ a b Railway Road Services KiwiRail
- ^ a b c d e Churchman & Hurst 2001.
- ^ Snell, J.B. (June 1954). Cooke, B.W.C. (ed.). "The New Zealand Government Railways - 1". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 100, no. 638. Westminster: Tothill Press. p. 385.
- ^ "NEW SUPER BUS. OPOTIKI NEWS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 16 June 1950. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ "From $1 | Bus Tickets | Cheap Bus Tickets | Bus Passes - InterCity From $1 | Bus Tickets | Cheap Bus Tickets | Bus Passes". Intercitycoach.co.nz. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
- ^ "Tranzrich Travel Ltd and Guthreys Intercity Coach Services Ltd" (PDF). Commerce Commission. 11 April 1997.
Bibliography
- Bellamy, AC (1981). New Zealand Railways Road Services. Wellington: Southern Press Limited. ISBN 0-908616-00-7.
- Churchman, Geoffrey B; Hurst, Tony (2001) [1990, 1991]. The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey through History (Second ed.). Transpress New Zealand. ISBN 0-908876-20-3.