PENANG HILL RAILWAY MAKES ITS LAST RUN
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KUALA LUMPUR - After years of breakdowns and stranded tourists, Penang bid farewell to its rickety Victorian funicular railway on Sunday.
"It's sad that we have to call it a day for the old funicular but the two kilometres of tracks are very worn out and so are the coaches," state transportation committee head, Mr Lim Hock Seng, told AFP.
Work on the inclined railway began in 1897 but took 26 years to complete, with its first coaches made of wood and steel. Its replacement is slated to be built in around seven months and will open in October.
Mr Lim said that the railway has taken several million tourists to the summit of 830-metre-high Penang hill in its 87-year existence.
However, equipment failure caused it to shut down for eight months in 2003 with sporadic closures after that due to a difficulty in finding spare parts for the old system. The line was again opened in 2004 but less than a year later, tourists were trapped on the hill when a brake malfunctioned.
Mr Lim said the tourism ministry was spending over RM63 million ($26 million) to build a new system that will see air-conditioned coaches take passengers up the hill in 10 minutes, compared to half an hour previously.
He said that the new railway would be able to stop at several new points for Penang Hill residents to access their vegetable farms and flower gardens that dot the area easily. AFP
From TODAY, Monday, 22-Feb-2010
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