In November 1926, NZR purchased a private bus firm operating between Hastings and Napier in the Hawke's Bay region.

Some routes were direct train replacements, but others extended the reach of the railways to other towns and destinations, including:[4] In addition, there were many other local and urban services across the country.

[5] For example, many cities had bus terminals some distance from railway stations and many NZRRS routes ran parallel to and at similar times to trains.

From Ford Model T-based cars to Straker steam trucks, to various Albion, Cadillac, Dodge and Leyland buses.

During the 1940s Ford V8 and Bedford truck chassis with New Zealand Motor Bodies (NZMB) became the standard NZRRS bus.

In 1985 the land operations of NZRC was restructured into market-based bi-modal (road and rail) business groups, rather than branches based on mode of transport,.