Penang Watch

Tuesday July 8, 2008(Star)
RM2m cables for railway

The Penang Government will spend RM2mil to replace the defective cables of the Penang Hill funicular railway.

State Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said new cables would be ordered from Switzerland.

“It will take only 10 days to change the cables but we will need to wait four months before the train is back in service again,” he said.

Lim explained that the state needed to sign a contract with the contractor and get the cables shipped to Penang before the cable replacement works could take place.

“All this will take about three months. Then, we need about a month for the service to resume,” he said.

The train service was grounded last month for maintenance works after Public Works Depart-ment (JKR) engineers found defects in the cables connecting the bottom station to the middle station and the middle station to the hilltop station.

When contacted, the Chief Minister’s political secretary Ng Wei Aik said the state was considering a proposal to introduce either a jeep or four-wheel-drive service to transport residents and tourists up the hill in the meantime.

Currently the daily four-wheel-drive service only caters for residents free of charge.

“As the road leading up to Penang Hill is not gazetted, we cannot provide the service to tourists or other members of the public. We also do not allow them to drive their own vehicles as the passage is unsafe and we cannot guarantee their safety,” he said.

State Tourism, Culture, Arts and Heritage Committee chairman Danny Law said permit extension for JKR to provide transport for residents and tourists to go up the hilltop could be considered.

“The disruption in the train’s service has affected Penang Hill’s tourism industry. Those operating businesses there are feeling the heat because less tourists are going there,” he said.