Latest news with #Whoosh
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Indonesia eyes high-speed rail to Surabaya, but China debt barriers loom
Indonesia is reviving plans to extend its Chinese-backed high-speed rail network, with ambitions to connect Jakarta with Surabaya, the nation's second-largest city. But analysts say familiar complications could stall the project, from regulatory hurdles to the mounting debt owed to China. The proposed extension would build on Whoosh – Southeast Asia's first high speed rail line – a US$7.3 billion project connecting capital Jakarta to Bandung in West Java province. The 142km (88-mile) railway, which was largely funded by China, was beset with delays and cost overruns before its inauguration by former president Joko Widodo in October 2023. Talk of extending the bullet train eastward to Surabaya has circulated since before Whoosh began operations, largely championed by Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Widodo's long-time fixer and the coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment during his administration. Now serving as chairman of the National Economic Council, a government advisory body, Luhut reaffirmed during a trip to Beijing on May 20-22 that the rail extension remained on the agenda – though he conceded that Indonesian bureaucracy had stalled progress. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (right), chairman of Indonesia's National Economic Council, in Beijing on May 20. Photo: Xinhua 'The issue is actually on our side because we haven't finished drafting the regulation yet. It's that simple. But once it's done, we'll start talking about a joint study [with China],' Luhut told Indonesia's state-owned Antara news agency.
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Otago Daily Times
Congestion-busting contenders
Doppelmayr NZ's Garreth Hayman. PHOTO: PHILIP CHANDLER Two fully electric aerial transportation system providers pitched themselves as solutions to Queenstown's chronic traffic congestion problems at this week's Electrify Queenstown event. They're Queenstown Cable Car, which could ferry up to 3000 passengers an hour, in both directions, between the CBD and the airport via Queenstown Hill and Frankton. The other's Whoosh's 'Uber in the sky' which is about to be demo-ed at Remarkables Park. Doppelmayr NZ CEO Garreth Hayman, who's working with local tech entrepreneur Rod Drury and former Infrastructure Commission chief executive Ross Copland, says "the big difference is we are a mass transit solution versus they are an equivalent of an Uber, if you like, in terms of calling up a taxi". "They will probably feed into the gondola system, it would make sense for them to do that, and it's just like the [public] bus [network] is feeding into the system well." However, Whoosh chief executive Dr Chris Allington tells Scene their system has many advantages over a gondola system. It could disperse its users across a greater number of smaller stations, avoiding likely queues at peak times with the gondola system's fewer, larger stations, he says. Its modular system allowed it to be expanded as demand required. "You're no longer stuck with straight lines and a limited number of stops."
Otago Daily Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
'Uber in the sky' demo on way in Queenstown
Christchurch company Whoosh will start building a 2km demo of its "Uber in the sky" transportation system in Queenstown's Remarkables Park within weeks. Whoosh chief executive Dr Chris Allington said it would begin operating as soon as the middle of next year, and more information would be released soon. "Within the next few weeks, we'll be cutting ribbons and starting to dig holes." He told an audience at the Electrify Queenstown trade show yesterday the on-demand system, which moves fully-electric, self-driving cabins around an elevated cable network, could solve the resort town's traffic congestion issues. The company unveiled a working prototype at its Christchurch base last September after six years of development. The demo system, which was being jointly funded by Whoosh and Remarkables Park Ltd, would have all its key features including cabins for four or five people, stations and an app. It would give residents the opportunity to experience it and provide feedback. "We'll then make it better, and hopefully we can work with the team and deliver something down here." The company had mapped out a 50-station network that linked the resort's town centre to Frankton and the eastern and southern suburbs. It already had projects under way in the United States and the first, in a 485ha park in the city of Irvine, California, was expected to be operating by the end of next year. It was also working on projects in Japan and the Middle East. Dr Allington said a Whoosh system had many advantages over a gondola system. It could disperse its users across a greater number of smaller stations, avoiding the queues likely at peak commuter times with a gondola system's fewer, larger stations. Its modular nature allowed it to be expanded as demand required. "You can form three-dimensional networks in your cities which fit in the existing urban spaces. "You're no longer stuck with straight lines and a limited number of stops." Whoosh was not the only mass transportation system being touted for Queenstown yesterday, which also featured a talk by Doppelmayr New Zealand chief executive Garreth Hayman. Doppelmayr NZ is working with tech entrepreneur Rod Drury and former Infrastructure Commission chief executive Ross Copland on a gondola system designed to move 3000 people an hour. The first stage, estimated to cost $250m, would run from the town centre up to a Queenstown Hill station, along to a Lake Johnson station, down to the Frankton bus hub, then on to the airport. Part of the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago district councils' regional deal submission, the plan's backers hope to have it operating by late 2028. Dr Allington told the Otago Daily Times a gondola "solves one problem, but not every problem", and could co-exist with Whoosh. If a Whoosh system was wanted for Queenstown, his company would be "very happy" to build one. "If not, we've got plenty of projects to keep us busy."
Otago Daily Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Transport demo to take to skies
Christchurch company Whoosh will start building a 2km demo of its "Uber in the sky" transportation system in Queenstown's Remarkables Park within weeks. Whoosh chief executive Dr Chris Allington said it would begin operating as soon as the middle of next year, and more information would be released soon. "Within the next few weeks, we'll be cutting ribbons and starting to dig holes." He told an audience at the Electrify Queenstown trade show yesterday the on-demand system, which moves fully-electric, self-driving cabins around an elevated cable network, could solve the resort town's traffic congestion issues. The company unveiled a working prototype at its Christchurch base last September after six years of development. The demo system, which was being jointly funded by Whoosh and Remarkables Park Ltd, would have all its key features including cabins for four or five people, stations and an app. It would give residents the opportunity to experience it and provide feedback. "We'll then make it better, and hopefully we can work with the team and deliver something down here." The company had mapped out a 50-station network that linked the resort's town centre to Frankton and the eastern and southern suburbs. It already had projects under way in the United States and the first, in a 485ha park in the city of Irvine, California, was expected to be operating by the end of next year. It was also working on projects in Japan and the Middle East. Dr Allington said a Whoosh system had many advantages over a gondola system. It could disperse its users across a greater number of smaller stations, avoiding the queues likely at peak commuter times with a gondola system's fewer, larger stations. Its modular nature allowed it to be expanded as demand required. "You can form three-dimensional networks in your cities which fit in the existing urban spaces. "You're no longer stuck with straight lines and a limited number of stops." Whoosh was not the only mass transportation system being touted for Queenstown yesterday, which also featured a talk by Doppelmayr New Zealand chief executive Garreth Hayman. Doppelmayr NZ is working with tech entrepreneur Rod Drury and former Infrastructure Commission chief executive Ross Copland on a gondola system designed to move 3000 people an hour. The first stage, estimated to cost $250m, would run from the town centre up to a Queenstown Hill station, along to a Lake Johnson station, down to the Frankton bus hub, then on to the airport. Part of the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago district councils' regional deal submission, the plan's backers hope to have it operating by late 2028. Dr Allington told the Otago Daily Times a gondola "solves one problem, but not every problem", and could co-exist with Whoosh. If a Whoosh system was wanted for Queenstown, his company would be "very happy" to build one. "If not, we've got plenty of projects to keep us busy."
RNZ News
27-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
'We want to get Queenstown moving again' - cable car companies target resort town
Whoosh as visualised on a central street in Queenstown. Photo: Supplied A cable car race is underway in Queenstown, as two different companies unveil their schemes to connect the resort town by high-wire. Whoosh and Southern Infrastructure Ltd have revealed blueprints of their proposed transport networks this week. Kiwi-owned Whoosh has been developing self-driving cabins to go on an elevated cable network , which riders would be able to book on an app. Whoosh_chief_executive_Chris_Allington. Photo: RNZ / Katie Todd Today at the Electrify Queenstown conference, Whoosh chief executive Chris Allington from the engineering firm Holmes Solutions revealed a map of where the six-part network could go. The network could link Frankton to Shotover Country to the Remarkables Ski Hill, but he said Whoosh was keen to adapt its plans to feedback from Queenstown locals. He said the first two kilometres or so - a pilot project around Remarkables Park - could be operational as soon as next year. "This isn't fiction, this isn't fake, this isn't an animation, this is actually coming. And it's coming fast," he told the crowd. Whoosh's vision for Queenstown. Photo: Supplied Work would begin this year, and it was just a matter of "dotting i's and crossing t's" and obtaining resource consent for the buildings, he said. Allington did not put a date on the wider network, besides saying Whoosh's modular design made it very quick to build. "It's not like we need to finish it all before any of it can open... it will just keep getting extended and keep rolling across in the direction, in the places, that Queenstown wants it to go," he said. So far, the network had a ballpark cost estimate of $250 million, he said. Whoosh was funded by shareholders and private equity from offshore, and Allington said he believed the price tag was achievable. "The funny thing is, it's actually easier to fund the big project than a small one, particularly stuff like this. It's clean, it's green, it's sustainable. There's lots of funding sources available for that," he said. But hot on Whoosh's heels was another initiative from Southern Infrastructure Ltd. Southern Infrastructure chief executive Ross Copland. Photo: RNZ / Katie Todd Chief executive Ross Copland described the company as less of an innovator, and more of a problem solver for the town's traffic woes. "We're not a supplier, so we don't have a particular technology. We're an infrastructure developer that's looking to solve a transport problem in Queenstown. We've looked really closely at all the options - our preference at this stage is a ropeway," he said. Southern Infrastructure planned to build an electric, high-speed urban gondola network around Queenstown, at a cost of about $200 million. It revealed a map of its planned network straddling seven stations, from Arthur's Point, to Queenstown central, to Ladies Mile, with stopoffs at Queenstown Airport and the Frankton bus hub. Queenstown Cable Car's indicative map. Photo: Supplied Copland said it was the sum of years of careful analysis of height limits, existing infrastructure, geotechnical stability and significant ecological areas. "It's almost a direct route into Queenstown, but importantly it bypasses a lot of those residential areas where the visual effects would be quite significant," he said. "We think it's a project that's consentable and also quite efficient." The project had backing from rich-lister Rod Drury, and support from one of the world's biggest ski lift companies, Doppelmayr. Copland admitted the company's goal of launching by the end of 2028 was "aggressive", but said the need was urgent. "There's a couple of different ways the project can be funded. We'd love to see it brought in as part of the public transport funding models so that people in the region, whether their visitors or locals, can have quite a seamless experience moving between bus, ferry and the cable. But that relies on a whole lot of decisions that are outside of our control, so local government central government will have a really key role in deciding," he said. "If that if that doesn't happen, then the funding model will be through, effectively, ticket prices, that will be paid by residents and visitors. The modelling we've done shows really strong growth and really strong uptake by passengers. So we think that under either of those scenarios, it's still a commercially viable project." Doppelmayr NZ chief executive Gareth Hayman. Photo: RNZ / Katie Todd Doppelmayr New Zealand chief executive Gareth Hayman hoped locals would see cable transit as a tried and tested option. "A gondola is not that scary at all. It's been, in use for the last 25 years within public transport networks. It's proven, it's tested, we understand what we need to do and we're here to make it happen," he said. Asked if Whoosh and Southern Infrastructure Ltd were competitors or allies, Allington said each was trying different methods to ease traffic congestion in Queenstown. "I think we're all trying to achieve the same thing. We want to get Queenstown moving again. We want to do that in a sustainable way," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
