Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Nettbuss

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Industry
  
Public transport

Area served
  
Scandinavia

Headquarters
  
Oslo, Norway

Predecessor
  
NSB Biltrafikk AS

Founded
  
1 December 1996

Parent organization
  
Norwegian State Railways

Nettbuss httpsc1staticflickrcom651295224882480b2b9

Type
  
State-owned Aksjeselskap

Key people
  
Arne Veggeland (MD) Geir Isaksen (Chairman)

Brands
  
TIMEkspressen Bus4You Nettbuss express

Subsidiaries
  
Team Trafikk, Nordlandsbuss, Aukra Auto, Risør og Tvedestrand Bilruter

Profiles

Nettbuss AS is the largest bus company in Norway, owned by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB). It was established on 10 February 2000 as the continuation of the bus operations from former NSB Biltrafikk. In addition to bus services in major parts of Norway, it also operates buses in Sweden through subsidiaries.

Contents

The company has its headquarters in Oslo with the operations being performed by subsidiaries. The company has about 25% market share in Norway and offers local and express bus services, and tour coaches through Peer Gynt Tours. The corporation has approximately 5,000 employees.

Most of the routes are on contract or public service obligation (PSO) with the counties, and in some counties the buses are branded with the counties public transport brands, like Ruter in Akershus and Kolumbus in Rogaland. On some regional high-frequency routes Nettbuss uses its own brand TIMEkspressen (the hourly express).

History

NSB Bilruter was established on 9 November 1925 as part of the Norwegian State Railway to offer supplementary bus services in Trøndelag. The first route was from Hell to Selbu, known as Selburuta. The company developed a number of routes to supplement train services.

In 1996 the bus division was made a separate limited company, NSB Biltrafikk AS, wholly owned by NSB. The new company started a vast acquisition of numerous local bus companies in addition to winning public service obligation contracts with some Norwegian counties. In 2000 the company changed its name to Nettbuss. The same year the truck division was sold to the Norwegian Postal Service.

Among the companies acquired by Nettbuss are:

  • Drammen og Omegn Busslinjer
  • Fjerdingen Busselskap
  • Gardermobussene AS
  • Kjell Lindhjems Bilruter
  • Orusttrafiken AB (Swedish)
  • Peer Gynt Tours
  • Sirdalsruta AS
  • Team Trafikk AS
  • TIMEkspressen Telemark AS
  • Øst-Telemark Automobilselskap
  • Säfflebussen
  • TIMEkspressen

    TIMEkspressen (Time Ekspressen means "Hourly Express") is an intercity coach brand used by Nettbuss on 9 routes in Norway. The coaches are usually operated at one hour headway, but some routes have higher frequency in rush hour and lower frequency in the weekends.

    Bus4You

    Luxury intercity coaches, operated on Gothenburg–Stockholm, Oslo–Gothenburg–Malmö, Oslo–Stockholm, Oslo–Tønsberg and Bergen–Haugesund–Stavanger.

    Nettbuss express

    Intercity coaches, continuing the routes formerly known as Säfflebussen in Sweden and some routes in Norway that had been operated as NOR-WAY Bussekspress.

    Operations

    Nettbuss has several fully owned and some partially owned subsidiaries.

    Nettbuss Travel AS

    Nettbuss Travel AS operates several of their intercity coach lines in Norway, including Bus4You between Tønsberg and Oslo and some of the Nettbuss express and TIMEkspressen lines. Prior to 1 January 2016, the company was known as Nettbuss Ekspress AS. The company was initially founded in cooperation with Fjord1. Another company named Nettbuss Travel AS was merged into the company in the spring of 2015.

    Nordlandsbuss AS

    Nordlandsbuss is owned 34% by Nettbuss and 66% by Saltens Bilruter and was the result of a merger between Nettbuss Helgeland AS and Saltens Bilruter's bus division. The company operates local and express bus routes in Nordland county and has its offices in Bodø.

    Nettbuss AB

    Previously Orusttrafiken, and is one of Nettbuss' Swedish subsidiaries. Formerly headquartered in Stenungsund, now Gothenburg, the company operates primarily in Southwestern Sweden, Katrineholm, and Norrköping.

    Nettbuss Travel AB

    Nettbuss Travel AB is another of Nettbuss' Swedish subsidiaries. It operates the Swedish part of the two intercity coach brands Bus4You and Nettbuss express. Routes between cities like Karlstad, Örebro, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Gothenburg. Acquired by Nettbuss in 2006, Säfflebussen changed its name to Bus4You in January 2009 and moved its headquarters to Borås, later Gothenburg.

    Nettbuss Stadsbussarna AB

    Nettbuss Stadsbussarna AB, formerly Stadsbussarna Sverige AB, operates the city buses in Östersund and Gävle.

    BorgBuss AS

    Initially 50% of BorgBuss was owned by Nettbuss while the rest was owned by Fredrikstad and Hvaler municipalities. The company operated local buses in Østfold. Later Nettbuss obtained a 100% share and bus operations were merged into Nettbuss Øst on 1 July 2013.

    Nettbuss Danmark A/S

    Nettbuss Danmark was Nettbuss' subsidiary in Danish market. In 2006 Nettbuss acquired Partner Bus AS and has merged it into Netbus Denmark. The headquarters were located in Copenhagen. In 2014 the operations merged with Keolis' Danish subsidiary via a joint venture, where Nettbuss owns 25%.

    Nettbuss Drammen AS

    Nettbuss Drammen operated bus services in the counties of Buskerud and Telemark, including the city buses in Drammen. Nettbuss Telemark was merged into Nettbuss Drammen in 2005. The company had its headquarters in Drammen. In 2013 it was merged into Nettbuss Sør AS.

    Nettbuss Midt-Norge AS

    Nettbuss Midt-Norge AS, formerly Nettbuss Trøndelag AS, was the result of the acquisition of Fjerdingen Busselskap, serving Stjørdal and Meråker as well as Hemne og Orkladal Billag, serving large parts of Sør-Trøndelag. The company was headquartered in Trondheim. On 1 January 2016 it was merged into the mother company.

    Nettbuss Møre AS

    Nettbuss Møre was the result of numerous mergers in Møre og Romsdal, the latest between Nettbuss Møre and Nettbuss Ålesund. The company operated a number of routes in the county, including the city buses in Kristiansund, Molde and Ålesund and two intercity coach routes to Oslo. The company was headquartered in Ålesund. In 2013 it was merged into Nettbuss Midt-Norge AS.

    Nettbuss Sør AS

    Nettbuss Sør operated local and intercity buses in Buskerud, Telemark, Vest-Agder (from January 2011 also local buses in Kristiansand) and Rogaland. The company had its headquarters in Arendal until 2013, when it was moved to Drammen. On 1 January 2016 it was merged into the mother company.

    Nettbuss Trondheim AS (Team Trafikk AS)

    Team Trafikk was created by a merger between the municipal Trondheim Trafikkselskap and private Hemne og Orkladal Billag. It was then acquired by Nettbuss and the city bus in Trondheim and Klæbu kept the name Team Trafikk while the rest of the operations were moved to Nettbuss Møre and Nettbuss Trøndelag. The company also owns the subsidiary Team Verkstedsenter AS that operates three commercial heavy duty workshops. Headquarters lay in Trondheim. On 1 January 2011, the company changed its name to Nettbuss Trondheim, and was merged into Nettbuss Trøndelag later the same year.

    Nettbuss Øst AS

    Nettbuss Øst, formerly Nettbuss Lillestrøm AS, operated local and intercity buses within the counties of Akershus, Hedmark, Oslo and Østfold. On 1 January 2016 it was merged into the mother company.

    Nettbuss Østfold AS

    Nettbuss Østfold operated local and intercity buses in Østfold and was headquartered in Sarpsborg. It was merged into Nettbuss Øst in 2013.

    References

    Nettbuss Wikipedia