GEORGE TOWN: Some 150 visitors had their holiday mood spoiled following the breakdown of Penang Hill's funicular train service that lasted for an hour on Friday (Oct 15).

       About 40 of them had to trudge down the hill while another 40 were taken to the hilltop before being brought down to the Penang Botanic Gardens via the jeep track.

       All of them were in two affected coaches, one of which was going uphill, and the other downhill during the breakdown at 2.10pm.

       Penang Hill Corporation (PHC) general manager Datuk Cheok Lay Leng said the corporation spent less than an hour to rectify the problem.

       They also spent another hour bringing all the stranded visitors to safety.

       "We evacuated the visitors under emergency procedures, either bringing them to the nearest station, or the safest point before rectifying the problem.”

       He said the track brake was immediately locked after the safety mechanism detected a potential fault.

       "We have spares for the track brake after learning our lessons all these years.

       "We have ordered brand new ones during the movement control order (MCO) period and are still waiting for its arrival," he said when contacted.

       "We also did not bring visitors up after the breakdown. We were just carrying out test runs to make sure the train service is up to the mark.

       "Some of them who did not make the trip were told to return the next day or get a refund," he added.

       Cheok said the corporation had not been running at high frequency since the various phases of MCO.