The company and the project’s co-funder, Remarkables Park Ltd (RPL), have applied for resource consent for the system, which Whoosh CEO Dr Chris Allington says will be about 1.5km long with four- or five-seat cabins running between three stations.
When that consent’s granted, they’ll seek building consent and engineering approvals.
‘‘We’ll be looking to have vehicles moving around it in late 2026 or early 2027,’’ Allington says.
Queenstown’s council granted the two companies a licence to occupy roads and airspace for the system in September.
In a joint statement, RPL and Whoosh say they’re looking for more partners for the demo version.
‘‘While the consents are being sought, discussions are taking place with potential parties interested in co-funding and being future network operators of a revolutionary green transportation technology.’’
Allington says they’ll build the demo system regardless, but another partner would speed up the process and allow them to build something longer and higher-spec.
‘‘The more funding available, the better experience we can provide for the community.’’
The Whoosh system involves fully-electric, self-propelling cabins moving around an elevated cable network on an on-demand basis akin to Uber.
The company unveiled a working prototype at its Christchurch base in September last year, after six years of development.
It’s mapped out a 50-station network - estimated to cost $250 million - that would link central Queenstown to Frank-ton and the eastern and southern suburbs.
Allington, who was en route to the United States while speaking to Mountain Scene this week, says Whoosh is progressing through the approvals process for a system in a large public park in the city of Irvine, California.
He’s expecting an announcement on that project by early next year.
Meantime, a proposed gondola system between central Queenstown and Frankton has taken the first step in seeking planning approval.
The Queenstown Cable Car team applied to the Ministry for the Environment for referral under Fast-track Approvals legislation on October 31.
A decision on whether the application is considered complete is expected to take about two weeks.
The first stage of the project, which is estimated to cost $400m, would run from the town centre to a station on Queenstown Hill, along to a station near Lake Johnson, down to the Frankton bus hub, then on to the airport.
