Telemark Bilruter is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 bus company based in Telemark

Telemark

is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...

 with headquarters in Seljord

Seljord

Seljord is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Seljord...

. The company operates regional and express buses in addition to trucks. The company has monopoly

Monopoly

A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...

 in most of Telemark, but not the highly populated Grenland

Grenland

Grenland is a traditional district in the county of Telemark, in the south of Norway. It is composed of the municipalities Skien, Porsgrunn, Bamble, Nome, and Siljan. Sometimes the municipalities Kragerø, and Drangedal are considered being part of the area...

 area. The company has 184 employees, 85 bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

es and 25 truck

Truck

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...

s.

The company cooperates with Nettbuss

Nettbuss

Nettbuss AS is the largest bus company in Norway owned by the Norwegian State Railways . It was until 2000 known as NSB Biltrafikk. The company has 14 operating subsidiaries throughout Norway and in Denmark and Sweden....

 on operating the routes is Telemarksekspressen and Grenlandsekspressen and with Tide

Tide (transportation company)

Tide ASA is a public transport company in Hordaland, Norway which resulted from the merger of Gaia Trafikk and Hardanger Sunnhordlandske Dampskipsselskap . The company provides the public transit network in the city of Bergen, and most of the bus service in Hordaland...

 on Haukeliekspressen, all branded as NOR-WAY Bussekspress

NOR-WAY Bussekspress

NOR-WAY Bussekspress is a Norwegian coach company, with lines in the north and south of Norway. Still, the two networks are separate. The southern network runs as south as Mandal, and as north as Namsos, while the northern network operates between Bodø and the North Cape or Honningsvåg...

. It also owns 27% of Telemark Kollektivtrafikk

Telemark Kollektivtrafikk

Telemark Kollektivtrafikk is a Norwegian bus company that operates the city buses in Grenland, Telemark. The company holds a public service obligation contract with the County of Telemark for city buses in Porsgrunn and Skien....

, the rest owned by Nettbuss

Nettbuss

Nettbuss AS is the largest bus company in Norway owned by the Norwegian State Railways . It was until 2000 known as NSB Biltrafikk. The company has 14 operating subsidiaries throughout Norway and in Denmark and Sweden....

, that operates the city bus in Grenland.

History

Telemark Bilruter is the consequence of the constant merger of bus companies in Telemark, and was created in 1998 when Vest-Telemark Bilruter and Grenland Nord trafikkselskap merged. The first operation of a bus by a precessor was in 1910 when Fyresdal Automobilselskap bought a French La Buire. In 1943 11 companies merged to form Vest-Telemark Billag, and in 1972 it merged with Reinums Bilruter to create Vest-Telemark Bilruter. Grenland Nord had its roots back to 1920 and was created by a merger in 1989.

The largest owners of the company are Municipality of Vinje

Vinje

Vinje is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Åmot.-Name:...

 (17.7%), Seljord Sparebank (9.8%), Municipality of Fyresdal

Fyresdal

Fyresdal is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Moland. The municipality of Moland was established on 1 January 1838 . In 1879, the name was changed to...

 (8.4%), Vrål Fossli (5.0%), Tide

Tide (transportation company)

Tide ASA is a public transport company in Hordaland, Norway which resulted from the merger of Gaia Trafikk and Hardanger Sunnhordlandske Dampskipsselskap . The company provides the public transit network in the city of Bergen, and most of the bus service in Hordaland...

 (4.0%), Haugerød & Nilsen (3.5%) and Tinn Billag

Tinn Billag

Tinn Billag AS is a buss company that operates local services in Tinn, Norway, as well as coach services from Tinn to Oslo and Grenland. Operations are on contract with Vestviken Kollektivtrafikk....

(3.4%). Municipalities in Telemark own all in all 32% of the company.