Our Plan
The Derwent Valley Railway has the unique opportunity to become the backbone of the Derwent Valley, linking many existing high quality tourism attractions and experiences through a multi-stage development plan.
Stage 1
Stage one involves completion of the project as far as Plenty, home to the Salmon Ponds, one of the valley’s most popular attractions.
Completion of this stage will occur within two years and will generate the necessary economic activity to support 4 direct and 80 indirect full-time equivalent employment opportunities.
The external funding required to complete this stage has been calculated at $4.2 million. This includes the construction of expanded rail maintenance facilities at New Norfolk as a community workshop to provide technical education, training and skilling opportunities.
Stage 2
Stage two covers the completion of the project from Plenty to Mt Field National Park and would be completed within a period of 3 years.
The economic activity generated from these two stages combined will support 5 direct and 107 indirect full-time equivalent employment opportunities. The external funding required to complete this stage has been conservatively calculated at $3.7 million.
The railway infrastructure is generally intact, but will require refurbishment to meet the standard for passenger rail operations. The locomotives and carriages owned by the DVR also require varying degrees of maintenance, refurbishment and modernisation to ensure the tourist experience is as comfortable as it is authentic.
The balance of funding throughout the project will be generated by the carriage of visitors on the earlier stage of the plan.
Additionally, it is hoped that restorations of the line between New Norfolk and Boyer to preserve the rail connection to the wider Tasmanian Rail Network (TRN). It is hoped that this development will enable state-wide tours to be run in partnership with Don River Railway and the Tasmanian Transport Museum.