GEORGE TOWN: About 180 visitors, including holidaymakers to Penang Hill, were left stranded for about two hours this afternoon after the funicular train service experienced a breakdown.
The service resumed at only about 4.30pm.
For now, wear and tear of the on-track brakes are believed to be the cause of the breakdown.
Penang Hill Corporation (PHC) general manager Datuk Cheok Lay Leng told the New Straits Times that when the safety mechanism detects a potential fault, it would immediately lock the track brakes.
"It is not a case of the track brakes not functioning.
"In total, we estimate that between 150 and 180 visitors were directly affected by the breakdown. These comprised those who happened to be in the coaches and those queuing from the upper to lower station.
"We evacuated them under emergency procedures to the nearest station or safest point to rectify the issue," he said.
Cheok said those affected were brought down using jeeps and buses from the Botanic Gardens to the lower station.
He said several hundred visitors were also affected as there were those who were unable to make the trip. PHC, he said, had requested that they return the next day or issued them with a refund.
Cheok said the funicular train had not been running at a high frequency since the various Movement Control Orders (MCOs).
"The issue was the track brakes' wear and tear on one coach. It took a bit of time to release it after bringing the visitors out. We can't do it with the visitors inside the coach.
"We have spares and we have ordered brand new ones during the MCO and are still awaiting their arrival.
Crement Ong, 20, a student from Penang who was supposed to bring his South Korean friends to visit the hill, said he was very disappointed at not being able to go up the hill.
"I will just have to wait for another opportunity to do so. All we were told was that the station was closed," he said.
Azim Fazli, 26, from Kuala Lumpur, who is in the state for work, said since it was his last day here, he decided to visit Penang Hill with his colleague.
"However, when we parked our car at the multi-storey carpark, we were told of the funicular train breakdown and that it was temporarily closed.
"Of course, I am disappointed as I will be returning home tomorrow morning without visiting the hill," he said.