Penang Hill Funicular Railway: Remembering an Engineering Feat 1923-2010

Penang Hill is the oldest hill station in Malaysia and also the only one with a funicular railway. Completed in I923, the Penang Hill Funicular Railway was the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, and its tunnel is one of the steepest in the world.

The story of Penang Hill’s railway began with an ambitious enterprise which started in 1892. Despite suffering several setbacks, its completion marked the culmination of a long-held dream of Penang residents. It’s all here in this new book from Ric Francis, Penang Hill Funicular Railway – Remembering an engineering feat 1923-2010. While also serving as an introduction to the hill station, it describes the various ways in which people have ascended the hill over the years – by foot, pony, doolie and other means of transport. The main focus of the book, however, is on the historic Penang Hill Railway, designed by Arnold Robert Johnson and built by the Federated Malay States Railways.

The funicular railway, which takes the visitor from Air Itam to the upper station at Strawberry Hill, operated from 1923 until 2010, when it was completely overhauled, but retaining the same route and incorporating some of the infrastructure of the older hill railway. Instead of two sections, the railway was modified into a single section system with a more powerful engine. Two blue coaches called Pinang and Mutiara, each with five compartments, weighing 16 tons and measuring 16 metres in length replaced the Swiss red coaches.  The two new trains have a carrying capacity of up to 100 passengers and can reach the top in four and a half minutes. A new middle station stop was created, but as a changeover is now unnecessary, the trains completely bypass the old middle station. With the fast new service, millions of visitors will continue to enjoy the Penang Hills for years to come.