Intercity Provides Public Transport Stability

4 August 2006

Intercity Provides Public Transport Stability In Uncertain Passenger Rail Environment

InterCity Coachlines has upped its operations by an additional 208 services per year between Auckland and Wellington, following Tranz Scenic’s announcement that it is withdrawing its Overlander train service permanently.

The new InterCity services will be on-road from the beginning of September and provide 10,000 extra passenger seats a year between Auckland and Wellington.

InterCity Sales and Marketing Manager, Daniel Rode, says the company is committed to providing public transport options for the communities affected by the Overlander withdrawal and is also ready to provide, at a short notice, a further 50,000 seats a year if needed.

“These new services will boost our current routes already running through National Park and King Country to ensure these areas can still access viable public and tourist transport.

We are also looking at how we can provide further transport solutions to ensure that communities, such as Ohakune and National Park, which have a strong focus on tourism, continue to have a robust transport network linking them to all main centres.”

During the initial two week Overlander strike period, InterCity provided an additional 61 services or 3,000 seats to make sure Kiwi travellers and international guests were not left stranded.

100 per cent Kiwi owned and operated, InterCity Group has invested more than $10 million dollars during the past three years to enhance, maintain and invest in its national land transport infrastructure, which connects more than 600 urban and rural communities, carrying 1.2 million passengers per year. The company intends to continue growing that investment into the future.

A major part of this investment has been the building of mega coaches to operate on the Auckland to Wellington routes. At almost 14 metres long and 4.2 metres high, the double-decker coaches are the largest passenger vehicles on New Zealand roads. The king-size 65 - 74-seat coaches represent new investment of $2.5 million in passenger services between Auckland and Wellington. These coaches were commissioned prior to the Overlander announcement, with one new mega-coach already in operation on the Auckland to Wellington route, and three more in the pipeline.

“On the Auckland to Wellington route these coaches will be able to carry 30 per cent more passengers using 15 per cent less fuel every year, connecting even more people to various destinations throughout the North Island,” said Mr Rode.

ENDS

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