Penang Cable Car

Penang Cable Car (4 February 2017)


Penang Cable Car is a planned cable car service service between the Penang Botanic Gardens and Penang Hill.

Updates on the Penang Cable Car

14 December 2022
Free Malaysia Today reports that Hartasuma Sdn Bhd has been selected to build the 2.9 km cable car service, which is expected to take three years to construct. Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that Hartasuma emerged the winner out of fiver submissions for the Request For Proposal (RFP) exercise, and will be given a 30-year concession to operate the service. The operator is expected to be able to recoup the cost of the project within 15 years.

According to Mr Chow, the cable car would be a greener mode of transport as it will help reduce the high load being borne by the funicular train. It will also help to redistribute traffic particularly during peak seasons.

To cater to the cable car service, a large multi-storey car park will be built at the Botanic Gardens near the cable car station. The cable car will have gondalas. It will be able to carry 1,000 persons at any one time, and travel at the speed of 6 metres per second.

According to Penang Hill Corporation General Manager, Mr Cheok Lay Leng, the project would not cause overcrowding on the hill, as fears by some NGOs. This is based on a feasibility study that showed that there had never been more than 1,400 people on the hill station at any one time.