Construction begins on Park and Ride facility in the Ruapehu region's National Park Village

Development has begun on a Park and Ride facility in National Park Village which will help to ease the pressure of growing visitor numbers in the area. Photo / Supplied

Construction work on the Park and Ride facility in National Park Village is under way with completion targeted for mid-June in time for the 2019 snow season and the new Whakapapa ski area gondola.

The $1.6 million project has been majority funded through Government's Tourism Infrastructure Fund (TIF) and will provide an integrated transport hub for road and rail services in response to growing visitor numbers.

Ruapehu land transport manager Warren Furner said the new facility will help manage the growing pressures on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing (TAC) and Whakapapa ski area while bringing commercial opportunities to the village and region.

"The popularity of the TAC together with the year round growth in visitor numbers to the wider Tongariro National Park including the ski areas has seen capacity issues develop over the past few years along with associated safety and environmental issues," Furner said.

"The new Park and Ride facility will provide day and overnight parking supported by services including public toilets, showers, barbecue facilities, a dump station and refuse facilities, wi-fi connectivity, bus, train and shuttle connections and electric vehicle charging stations."

The opening of the new gondola at Whakapapa also scheduled for some time in June is anticipated to bring an additional 300,000 visitors to Ruapehu every year, growing to 500,000 by 2025.

Furner said that while Ruapehu welcomes the challenges and opportunities brought about by growing visitor numbers, they also take their tiakitanga responsibilities to care for the Tongariro National Park (TNP) and guest very seriously.

"The development of the new Park and Ride facility is an important part of our approach to tiakitanga by providing facilities that allow people to visit Ruapehu safely while minimising their environmental footprint on the area and helping to sustain our communities," Furner said.

"With our current facilities already at capacity, Government co-funding has been vital to enabling Ruapehu to make the necessary infrastructure investment to support regional tourism development and New Zealand's tourism business growth agenda."

Ruapehu District Council's land transport activity has a vision to work with Government and other partners including iwi and DOC to have all transport services and on-mountain services powered through renewable energy sources.

The new Park and Ride facility is an important part of progressing towards a vision of keeping people safe, keeping vehicles off the road and out of the TNP and delivering real environmental benefits.