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Intercity (New Zealand)
Encyclopedia
InterCity Group Ltd is a passenger transport and tourism company and operates New Zealand's largest coach
network and ferries and cruises in the Bay of Islands
. It has several brand
s:
. Tranzit is owned by the Snelgrove family and Ritchies by the Ritchie family. Nelson SBL also has a small stake in InterCity.
long-distance routes. New Zealand Railways' rail and road services were combined in 1985 as the Passenger Business Group of the New Zealand Railways Corporation
. InterCity began in 1987 as the brand
for long-distance rail
and road services.
In 1991 the rail-based assets were transferred to New Zealand Rail Limited
and the long-distance buses and InterCity name were bought by InterCity Management Limited, a group of seven of the country's largest private coach
companies - Whangarei Bus Services, Bayline Group, Ritchies Transport Holdings, Tranzit Group, Guthreys Coachlines, Nelson SBL and PTL Route Services - as a franchise-based operation. Each of the franchisees is responsible for operating set routes, usually close to their home base. Of the original seven franchisees four remain, with one new franchisee (SDK Ltd) operating services in Northland where Whangarei Bus Services previously held the franchise.
Over the years the company name has changed from InterCity Coachlines Ltd to Coachnet NZ Ltd, followed by InterCity Group Ltd and most recently InterCity Holdings Ltd.
Newmans Coach Lines began in 1879 with brothers Tom and Harry Newman offering a horse-drawn coach service delivering mail around the Nelson region. The business grew rapidly and expanded to include passenger services, at first throughout the South Island and later into the North Island. In 1911 the first motor vehicle - a four-cylinder Cadillac - was introduced and in 1918 the last horse-drawn carriage was retired from service.
Newmans remained a family-owned business until 1972 when it merged with Transport (Nelson) Ltd, a trucking and mining company. There followed a period of expansion where the Newmans brand encompassed tours, rental cars and campervans and a short-lived airline.
In 1988 Corporate Investments Limited took over the business and several routes were withdrawn. In 1991 an agreement was reached where competitor Mount Cook Group ceased operating in the North Island and Newmans ceased operating in the South Island. This step was not enough and in 1992 TTRB Ltd, a consortium of four coach operators (Tranzit Group, Taranaki Coachlines, Ritchies Transport Holdings and Bayline Group), took over Newmans Coach Lines. By 1994 two of the consortium members had withdrawn and the remaining two shareholders, Tranzit Group and Ritchies Transport Holdings, operated it as a separate business until the Auckland Power Crisis
in 1998 when Newmans was integrated into the InterCity Group business.
From 1995 to 2007 the Newmans brand was used on both sightseeing day tours and passenger route services. From 2008 the Newmans brand was withdrawn from sightseeing day tours in favour of GreatSights, but many Newmans coach services still visit popular tourist destinations including Napier, Queenstown, Wanaka and the West Coast glaciers.
based operator of sightseeing cruises and day tours. This purchase was InterCity's first foray beyond road passenger transport services. It also increased InterCity's exposure to the tourism market.
InterCity's footprint in the tourism market increased again in December 2007 when it added the Tourism Holdings Limited
Ltd businesses of Great Sights and Fullers Bay of Islands
by way of a joint venture. In December 2008 Tourism Holdings sold its 49% stake in InterCity Holdings Limited to InterCity Group for $9.5m.
GreatSights New Zealand is InterCity Group's daily sightseeing subsidiary operating day tours and sightseeing from Auckland
, Rotorua
, Christchurch
and Queenstown
to the Bay of Islands
, the Waitomo Caves
, Rotorua
, Aoraki, Te Anau
and Milford Sound
.
GreatSights was formed in October 1987 following acquisition of the coach assets of Fourways Coachlines by various Newmans Group companies and was subsequently taken over by Corporate Investments Limited (CIL), then in 1993 by The Helicopter Line (later renamed Tourism Holdings Ltd, THL).
Glass-roofed double-decker Volvo B12 coaches were introduced onto the Milford Sound
route in 1996.
In 1998 THL purchased a number of assets from Mount Cook Group
including the Gray Line
New Zealand franchise, which GreatSights operated until 2006.
In 2000 GreatSights opened a visitor information centre at 180 Quay Street, Auckland. This became the departure point for all GreatSights day tours from Auckland. The centre was closed following InterCity's acquisition of GreatSights, as InterCity already operated a similar visitor information centre on Hobson Street. Also as a result of the acquisition, in April 2008 the Newmans Coach Lines brand gradually began to be removed from routes that were operated by Great Sights.
In recent years GreatSights has enjoyed strong growth in line with rising visitor arrivals into New Zealand. A number of new routes and tour options have been added to the network including a new Waitomo & Rotorua tour in 2009. GreatSights launched a new Wellington city "hop on hop off" tour in September 2010.http://www.citysights.co.nz/
waterfront as well as a visitor centre in Russell and a workshop in Opua.
The Fullers business was founded in 1886 when Albert Ernest Fuller started a business delivering coal and other essential supplies to islands in the Bay of Islands in his vessel the Undine. Fuller branched out into tourism in 1927 when he started the Cream Trip service transporting cream from the islands to the mainland. Tourists would pay to ride on the Cream Trip and over time the focus of the service changed from deliveries and transport to one of sightseeing and tourism.
The business expanded substantially over the years and today its primary focus is tourism although it does also operate passenger and vehicle ferries. The Fullers product range includes:
In 2009 Fullers Bay of Islands was rebranded Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands, providing connection to InterCity's sightseeing tours in the rest of New Zealand, and a new awesomeNZ brand was introduced. The Kings Dolphin Cruises, Northern Exposure and Awesome Adventures brands were removed. AwesomeNZ branded excursions include Ninety Mile Beach
day tours and Excitor fast boat adventure.
In May 2007 Intercity joined Landcare Research's carboNZero programme
but withdrew when the New Zealand Government introduced an Emissions Trading Scheme.
In 2010 InterCity's Bay of Islands operations were awarded an Enviro Gold rating by Qualmark. Its Coaching division currently holds a Qualmark Enviro Bronze rating.
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
network and ferries and cruises in the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
. It has several brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
s:
- InterCity Coachlines, New Zealand's largest coach network, servicing around 600 towns and communities daily
- Newmans Coach Lines, slightly more up-market, between major cities and major tourist centres
- InterCity Link on secondary feeder routes
- GreatSights New Zealand sightseeing coach services
- awesomeNZ.com (formerly Kings Dolphin Cruises and Eco Tours) sightseeing tours and boat cruises for the more intrepid traveller
- Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands coach and boat sighteeing services in the Far NorthFar North DistrictThe Far North District of New Zealand, as its name suggests, is the northernmost district within New Zealand, consisting of the northern tip of the North Island. The current mayor is Wayne Brown.-Geography:...
- ExcitorExcitorThe Excitor is a fast boat tourist experience in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. It is used on a high-speed trip through the scenic bay out to Cape Brett, where the boat travels through the 'Hole in the Rock', a natural sea-tunnel...
fast boat tours
Ownership
InterCity Group (NZ) Ltd is controlled by Tranzit Group of Masterton, New Zealand and Ritchies Transport of TimaruTimaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
. Tranzit is owned by the Snelgrove family and Ritchies by the Ritchie family. Nelson SBL also has a small stake in InterCity.
History
InterCity is the direct successor to New Zealand Railways Road ServicesNew Zealand Railways Road Services
The New Zealand Railways Road Services 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.-History:...
long-distance routes. New Zealand Railways' rail and road services were combined in 1985 as the Passenger Business Group of the New Zealand Railways Corporation
New Zealand Railways Corporation
KiwiRail Network, formerly ONTRACK , is the infrastructure arm of KiwiRail. The ONTRACK trading name was introduced in 2004 after the government repurchased all of New Zealand's rail infrastructure from Toll NZ. It does not operate revenue rolling stock...
. InterCity began in 1987 as the brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
for long-distance rail
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
and road services.
In 1991 the rail-based assets were transferred to New Zealand Rail Limited
Tranz Rail
Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Ltd , was the main rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003.- Formation :...
and the long-distance buses and InterCity name were bought by InterCity Management Limited, a group of seven of the country's largest private coach
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
companies - Whangarei Bus Services, Bayline Group, Ritchies Transport Holdings, Tranzit Group, Guthreys Coachlines, Nelson SBL and PTL Route Services - as a franchise-based operation. Each of the franchisees is responsible for operating set routes, usually close to their home base. Of the original seven franchisees four remain, with one new franchisee (SDK Ltd) operating services in Northland where Whangarei Bus Services previously held the franchise.
Over the years the company name has changed from InterCity Coachlines Ltd to Coachnet NZ Ltd, followed by InterCity Group Ltd and most recently InterCity Holdings Ltd.
Newmans Coach Lines
Newmans remained a family-owned business until 1972 when it merged with Transport (Nelson) Ltd, a trucking and mining company. There followed a period of expansion where the Newmans brand encompassed tours, rental cars and campervans and a short-lived airline.
In 1988 Corporate Investments Limited took over the business and several routes were withdrawn. In 1991 an agreement was reached where competitor Mount Cook Group ceased operating in the North Island and Newmans ceased operating in the South Island. This step was not enough and in 1992 TTRB Ltd, a consortium of four coach operators (Tranzit Group, Taranaki Coachlines, Ritchies Transport Holdings and Bayline Group), took over Newmans Coach Lines. By 1994 two of the consortium members had withdrawn and the remaining two shareholders, Tranzit Group and Ritchies Transport Holdings, operated it as a separate business until the Auckland Power Crisis
1998 Auckland power crisis
The 1998 Auckland power crisis was a five-week-long power outage.Almost all of downtown Auckland in New Zealand was supplied electricity by Mercury Energy via four power cables, two of them 40-year-old oil-filled cables that were past their replacement date. One of the cables failed on 20 January,...
in 1998 when Newmans was integrated into the InterCity Group business.
From 1995 to 2007 the Newmans brand was used on both sightseeing day tours and passenger route services. From 2008 the Newmans brand was withdrawn from sightseeing day tours in favour of GreatSights, but many Newmans coach services still visit popular tourist destinations including Napier, Queenstown, Wanaka and the West Coast glaciers.
Expansion
In 2006 InterCity purchased Kings Dolphin Cruises, a PaihiaPaihia
Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...
based operator of sightseeing cruises and day tours. This purchase was InterCity's first foray beyond road passenger transport services. It also increased InterCity's exposure to the tourism market.
InterCity's footprint in the tourism market increased again in December 2007 when it added the Tourism Holdings Limited
Tourism Holdings Limited
Tourism Holdings Limited usually called THL and formerly known as The Helicopter Line is a large New Zealand tourism company that has been listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange since 1986....
Ltd businesses of Great Sights and Fullers Bay of Islands
Fullers Bay of Islands
Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands is a major tourism company based in Northland, New Zealand. Today it is Northland's largest marine tourism operator with a wide range of cruises and land tours.- History :...
by way of a joint venture. In December 2008 Tourism Holdings sold its 49% stake in InterCity Holdings Limited to InterCity Group for $9.5m.
GreatSights New Zealand
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
, Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
and Queenstown
Queenstown, New Zealand
Queenstown is a resort town in Otago in the south-west of New Zealand's South Island. It is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long thin Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has spectacular views of nearby mountains....
to the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
, the Waitomo Caves
Waitomo Caves
The Waitomo Caves are a village and cave system forming a major tourist attraction in the southern Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand, 12 kilometres northwest of Te Kuiti. The community of Waitomo Caves itself is very small, though the village has many temporary service workers...
, Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
, Aoraki, Te Anau
Te Anau
Te Anau is a town in the South Island of New Zealand. It is on the eastern shore of Lake Te Anau in Fiordland. Lake Te Anau is the largest lake in the South Island and second only within New Zealand to Lake Taupo. The 2001 census recorded the town's population as 1,857...
and Milford Sound
Milford Sound
Milford Sound is a fjord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island, within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site...
.
GreatSights was formed in October 1987 following acquisition of the coach assets of Fourways Coachlines by various Newmans Group companies and was subsequently taken over by Corporate Investments Limited (CIL), then in 1993 by The Helicopter Line (later renamed Tourism Holdings Ltd, THL).
Glass-roofed double-decker Volvo B12 coaches were introduced onto the Milford Sound
Milford Sound
Milford Sound is a fjord in the south west of New Zealand's South Island, within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site...
route in 1996.
In 1998 THL purchased a number of assets from Mount Cook Group
Mount Cook Group
Mount Cook Group, earlier called Mount Cook and Southern Lakes Tourist Company was a New Zealand tourism and transport operator and former owner of Mount Cook Airline...
including the Gray Line
Gray Line
Gray Line , as a transport company may refer to:*Gray Line Worldwide, American-based international sightseeing operator and franchisor*Gray Coach, Canadian inter-city bus line, based in Toronto 1927-1991...
New Zealand franchise, which GreatSights operated until 2006.
In 2000 GreatSights opened a visitor information centre at 180 Quay Street, Auckland. This became the departure point for all GreatSights day tours from Auckland. The centre was closed following InterCity's acquisition of GreatSights, as InterCity already operated a similar visitor information centre on Hobson Street. Also as a result of the acquisition, in April 2008 the Newmans Coach Lines brand gradually began to be removed from routes that were operated by Great Sights.
In recent years GreatSights has enjoyed strong growth in line with rising visitor arrivals into New Zealand. A number of new routes and tour options have been added to the network including a new Waitomo & Rotorua tour in 2009. GreatSights launched a new Wellington city "hop on hop off" tour in September 2010.http://www.citysights.co.nz/
Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands
Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands is InterCity Group's tourism and ferry transport business based in the Bay of Islands. It operates from a visitor centre in the Maritime Building on Paihia'sPaihia
Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...
waterfront as well as a visitor centre in Russell and a workshop in Opua.
The Fullers business was founded in 1886 when Albert Ernest Fuller started a business delivering coal and other essential supplies to islands in the Bay of Islands in his vessel the Undine. Fuller branched out into tourism in 1927 when he started the Cream Trip service transporting cream from the islands to the mainland. Tourists would pay to ride on the Cream Trip and over time the focus of the service changed from deliveries and transport to one of sightseeing and tourism.
The business expanded substantially over the years and today its primary focus is tourism although it does also operate passenger and vehicle ferries. The Fullers product range includes:
- The Cream Trip
- Hole in the Rock dolphin-watching cruises
- Dolphin swimming cruises
- Ninety Mile BeachNinety Mile BeachNinety Mile Beach may refer to:*Ninety Mile Beach , in Australia*Ninety Mile Beach, Western Australia*Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand de:Ninety Mile Beach...
and Cape ReingaCape ReingaCape Reinga is the northwesternmost tip of the Aupouri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. Cape Reinga is located over 100 km north of the nearest small town of Kaitaia. State Highway 1 extends all the way to the Cape, but until 2010 was unsealed gravel road for the...
day tours - Excursions in and around KerikeriKerikeriKerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...
and RussellRussell, New ZealandRussell, formerly known as Kororareka, was the first permanent European settlement and sea port in New Zealand. It is situated in the Bay of Islands, in the far north of the North Island. As at the 2006 census it had a resident population of 816, an increase of 12 from 2001... - Discover HokiangaHokiangaHokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as The Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand....
- Overnight cruise onboard Ipipiri
- Vehicle ferries between OpuaOpuaOpua is a locality in the Bay of Islands, in the sub-tropical Northland Region of New Zealand. It is notable as the first port for overseas yachts arriving in the country after crossing the Pacific Ocean...
and OkiatoOkiatoOkiato or Old Russell is a small holiday spot in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, seven km south of present-day Russell. It was New Zealand's first national capital, for a short time from 1840 to 1841, before the seat of government was moved to Auckland... - Passenger ferries between Russell and Paihia
In 2009 Fullers Bay of Islands was rebranded Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands, providing connection to InterCity's sightseeing tours in the rest of New Zealand, and a new awesomeNZ brand was introduced. The Kings Dolphin Cruises, Northern Exposure and Awesome Adventures brands were removed. AwesomeNZ branded excursions include Ninety Mile Beach
Ninety Mile Beach
Ninety Mile Beach may refer to:*Ninety Mile Beach , in Australia*Ninety Mile Beach, Western Australia*Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand de:Ninety Mile Beach...
day tours and Excitor fast boat adventure.
Environmental Projects
InterCity has embarked on a number of sustainability projects since 1998.CarboNZero programme
The carboNZero programme is a greenhouse gas emissions reduction scheme that is administered and offered by Landcare Research, a New Zealand Crown Research Institute...
but withdrew when the New Zealand Government introduced an Emissions Trading Scheme.
In 2010 InterCity's Bay of Islands operations were awarded an Enviro Gold rating by Qualmark. Its Coaching division currently holds a Qualmark Enviro Bronze rating.