FiORDLAND MONORAIL The monorail will initially carry up to 160 people, but could be extended to carry 224. It will travel at an average speed of 75kph. The proposal projects that it will carry from 237,000 passengers per year up to a maximum capacity of over 1 million. The main purpose of the proposal is to enhance the trip and shorten the journey from Queenstown to Milford Sound. However, It is an experience in its own right and is not just another transport option to Milford Sound

The proposal is to make a 3 leg trip from Queenstown to Te Anau Downs, to link with buses to Milford Sound. The first leg is 25k via catamaran from Queenstown to Mt Nicholas across Lake Wakatipu. The second leg is a 45k trip via all terrain vehicle (like a 40 person coach with big tyres) on the back roads along the Von River Valley, over to the Oreti River Valley, ending at a terminus at Kiwi Burn in the Mararoa Valley. The third leg of the journey will be 43k via monorail starting at Kiwi Burn, passing through Snowdon Forest, crossing the Whitestone and Upukerora Rivers and ending at Te Anau Downs on the Milford Road. Here tourists will join a bus to Milford Sound or go on to other destinations. The construction of the monorail will include building an additional track, 30 to 80m apart from the monorail. This will initially be for construction and later become a bike track, as well as providing maintenance access. This will mean cutting two tracks through the bush: a 6m wide track for the monorail and the maintenance track will end up 3m wide, but is likely to have to be wider than that during the construction process. There will also be spur tracks between the two tracks for construction and emergency access.

On 10 November, 2013, the Department of Conservation approved the project in principal, subject to public consultation. Not all are happy with the Department of Conservation's decisions however. Objecters include Southland District Council Mayor Frana Cardno who believes the Milford Dart Tunnel is inconsistent with the New Zealand Tourism Strategy objectives since it will reduce the duration of stay within New Zealand as well as the daily spend. Also, that it will limit visitor flows into the southern region. Regional tourism organisation Destination Fiordland has also taken the official position that it opposes the Milford Dart concession application. The RTO is currently working on a submission regarding the monorail proposal. Te Anau businesses say that they will loose trade.