A train capable of carrying up to 500 people, running through a 13.5km tunnel, is the latest proposal to reduce travel time from Queenstown to Milford Sound.
The Milford Sound Link Rail Ltd proposal would ferry vehicles on a roll-on, roll-off electric-powered train under the Humboldt Mountains from beside the Dart River bridge in Routeburn Rd, to Gunns Camp in the Hollyford Valley Rd. Passengers would remain in their vehicles while the train travelled through the tunnel.
Milford Sound Link Rail Ltd chief executive and director Greg Harris, of Christchurch, said the project had been four years in the planning, and it would be three to five years, provided the company got approval, before the project could start operating.
Mr Harris, an electrical engineer, is the principal electrical designer in the Christchurch Tramway project.
The other director of the company is Colin Jenner, a civil engineer, who works overseas, but has a house in Queenstown.
The departure site, beside the Dart River bridge, was outside a national park, so was not bound by national park laws.
The site at Gunns Camp was in Fiordland National Park, but Mr Harris said it was not insurmountable to get approval for this area.
Facilities would be basic at each departure point, and there would not be a large car park.
There would be one 300m-long train, with locomotives at each end, and the entire trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound would take about two hours, with 12-15 minutes on the 600-tonne train, he said.
The train, which would travel between 50kmh and 60kmh, would be a Swiss-designed electric unit, which was used extensively in Europe. Fare prices had not yet been decided.
‘‘Trains are far safer than cars and buses. People have to stay inside their vehicles and the operators can have more control over them,'' he said.
The train would work at peak times a maximum of about 12 hours a day and be able to take all Queenstown/Milford tourists.
‘‘Numbers have levelled out in Milford Sound. But instead of people sitting on a bus for 12 to 13 hours, they can do it in half a day and go somewhere else.
‘‘This can give the industry a real boost.'' Tunnel-boring machines would be used and though it had not been decided, the spill would most probably be placed in unused land near the Dart River entrance.
The cost of the project had not yet been finalised, but was more than the $150 million Milford Dart proposal, Mr Harris said.
Venture capital funding was being lined up, although more than $100,000 had been spent on economic and engineering consultants.
Other ventures to try to get tourists quickly to Milford Sound have either been abandoned or faced long delays.
A gondola project was shelved as it did not gain an amenities designation in the Fiordland National park management area.
A monorail through the Von Valley is still being assessed by the Department of Conservation.
Milford Dart had proposed a 10.2km tunnel ferrying hybrid buses, but it received a blow last year when it was denied authority to apply to build a road in Mt Aspiring National Park.
Milford Dart Ltd managing director Tom Elworthy said yesterday that the company's proposal was still alive, and it hoped to announce an alternative route in a couple of months.
The project was discussed at a Southland Conservation Board meeting in Invercargill on Tuesday, when more information was requested by the board.
