Penang Hill’s funicular railway will shut down for a week in January 2027 for its first biannual maintenance of the year, with Swiss engineers overseeing repairs to the track, air conditioning and roof.
Penang Hill Corporation (PHC) announced the closure will run from 4 January to 10 January, with service resuming on 11 January, Malay Mail reported.
Engineers from Garaventa AG, the Swiss manufacturer that built the current funicular system, will supervise the works. The scope includes repairs to the Lower Station track structure, upgrades to the air conditioning system and roof repairs, PHC said. The shutdown is part of routine safety checks to keep the century-old railway in running order.
The Penang Hill Railway first opened on 21 October 1923, making it Malaysia’s only funicular and one of the oldest in South East Asia. British engineer Arnold R Johnson designed the original railway based on a Swiss model, with construction costing 1.5 million Straits dollars. The two-section system carried passengers for 87 years before a RM63 million overhaul in 2010 replaced it with the current single-section Garaventa system. That upgrade cut the ride from 30 minutes to five and increased capacity to 100 passengers per coach.
PHC carries out two major maintenance sessions each year under Garaventa’s supervision, The Star reported, to ensure the system meets safety compliance standards. The corporation also conducts daily, weekly and monthly inspections of the funicular, along with routine checks after operating hours. The track repairs at the Lower Station are among the most technically demanding parts of the maintenance, as the station sits at the base of the 1,996-metre line.
The railway recorded 1.9 million riders in 2025, a far cry from the 35,201 passengers who made 4,021 trips in its first year of operation a century ago. The January shutdown is the first of two scheduled maintenance windows for 2027, with the second typically taking place around June. During the closure, visitors can use the jeep service operated by the Penang Hill Jeep Service Association (012-454 1255), located next to the Penang Botanic Gardens Department office, or take hiking trails to the summit.
For enquiries, contact PHC at 04-828 8880 or email [email protected].
