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.
Sold to Gobus Transport Ltd
Early Feb 2014 Go Bus Transport 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.
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. 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 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 which was bought by Stewart Newton and Norma Newton from Norma's uncle. In 1991 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 remained in use by Invercargill Passenger Transport. In 2006 CNL took over inter-city coach operator Wanaka Connexions. By 2011, Citibus was described by city mayor Dave Cull as "haemorrhaging money", and the Dunedin City Council decided the business should be privatised. The new owners elected to retain the 'Citibus' naming, branding the Dunedin operation Passenger Transport Citibus, 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 Educationschool 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 nakedbus.com franchise.
Tourism services
Passenger Transport operated Tour coach services to package tour operators were provided under the Newtons brand and a double decker bus sightseeing tour around Dunedin under the brand First City Tours.
Long distance services
Passenger Transport operated inter-city coach services as part of other franchise networks:
