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Ritchies Transport is a New Zealand private bus operator, owned by

KKR KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strateg ...

. It was established in 1972 and describes itself as "the largest privately owned bus and coach transport operator in New Zealand" with a fleet of over 1500 vehicles spread across depots nationwide. It owns a 46% stake in

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

Services

Richies operates

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

services for several

package tour A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the ho ...

operators, as well as urban services, usually under contract to local councils: *Auckland. Ritchies' main urban bus operations are in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, operating out of depots in Swanson and Albany servicing West Auckland including Helensville and the North Shore. Ritchies also operates high-speed Northern Express NX1 services on the Northern Busway on Auckland's North Shore, under contract to

Auckland Transport Auckland Transport (AT) is the council-controlled organisation (CCO) of Auckland Council responsible for transport projects and services. It was established by section 38 of the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, and operates under ...

. *Blenheim. Ritchies operate the local bus service in Blenheim under contract to the

Marlborough District Council Marlborough District Council ( mi, Te Tauihu-o-te-waka) is the unitary local authority for the Marlborough District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Marlborough, who is currently . There are also 13 councillors representing th ...

. There are two loops that service the town. *Timaru and Temuka. Ritchies was founded in this small South Canterbury city. They have operated four Timaru urban bus routes contracted to

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

since 28 June 2010, previously operated by Christchurch Bus Services. They also run the Timaru–Temuka bus route. *Christchurch. With deregulation of bus services Ritchies entered the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

urban market with a number of routes using various buses purchased from other companies, including the

Auckland Regional Authority The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC ...

, Invercargill City Transport, Timaru City Transport and New Plymouth City Buses. In January 1997, Ritchies sold its Christchurch urban contracts to Christchurch Transport Ltd but retained ownership of the buses. It was announced on 4 November that Ritchies has purchased the assets of Red Bus Ltd for an undisclosed sum. Red Bus operates a number of urban services from the airport area to the south east of the city. *Queenstown. In 2016, Ritchies took over Connectabus, Queenstown's privately owned public transport service and continues to run the services. In 2017, Ritchies bought out Alpine Connexions in Wanaka, integrating their Queenstown–Wanaka services into its own. *Dunedin. Ritchies amalgamated

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

bus lines Turnbull Motors, Peninsular Motor Services and Southern Services in 1975.Nissan Nomad TC81
on NZ Omnibus Society website, viewed 2011-05-31 Since then, Ritchies has operated urban services in Dunedin from time to time. From 1 July 2011, it has operated the Opoho-Shiel Hill, Pine Hill-Lookout Point, and University-Concord routes.

References

External links

Company website
{{KKR Bus companies of New Zealand Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies Transport companies established in 1972 New Zealand companies established in 1972

Services

See also

References

External links