Photo / File
Naked Bus will give a taste of business class to passengers travelling overnight on SH1 with a lie flat bed sleeper service hitting the road just before Christmas.
Tickets for the nine-hour journey between Auckland and Wellington will start for as low as $1 and range up to $55.
Up to 40 passengers will travel in bunk-style beds and will be given sheets, pillows and for a limited time, a free 'onesie' to use on the trip.
Naked Bus is touting the service as the first of its kind in this country.
The bus has a toilet on board and will call at Hamilton and Palmerston North. It will offer passengers wifi and a food service.
The 1.85m beds would be separated by a "privacy board" and Naked Bus chief executive Hamish Nuttall said those travelling together would sleep side by side and those travelling alone would sleep next to those of the same gender.
A cabin attendant will travel on the bus.
"We believe it will change the way people view bus travel and it caters for a growing mobile workforce. It will be popular with existing customers as well as those who hadn't previously thought about travelling with us."
There was demand for main trunk bus travel from students and others who had missed out on low cost air fares, he said.
The company was working with regulators before the launch date, December 18.
"Our multi-disciplinary team has worked closely with regulators, designers and engineers to create the Sleeper buses, which are currently being fitted out in Christchurch," said Nuttall.
There are typically one or two $1 seats on each Naked Bus service. Rival bus company InterCity offers one-way Auckland-Wellington services for as low as $31 for midweek overnight travel if booked in advance.
During the day the bunks would convert to groups of four standard seats facing each other.
Naked Bus was established in 2006 and said it is on track to provide 700,000 passenger journeys this year.
Mainfreight said its NZ division outperformed an estimate.