TRANSIT took note that service on the Penang Hill Railway, (which recently re-started operations on April 25th) was disrupted on Tuesday 3 May – apparently by a stray dog or group of stray dogs getting caught in the power system and getting caught – causing the train to run into them.
Stray dogs said to have caused damage to hill railway system (The Star, 5 May 2011)
Ng Wei Aik, Komtar assemblyman, responding to the collision and the service problems over the labour day weekend, later commented that the Penang Hill Corporation had hired unqualified staff for the Penang Hill Railway.
More info about the rush in demand for the railway:
- Public holiday draws 10,000-strong crowd at Penang Hill (The Star, 3 May 2011);
- More attention on crowd control at Penang Hill after weekend surge (The Star, 3 May 2011);
- Visitors: Provide info on waiting time for hill train (The Star, 3 May 2011);
And to add to the strangeness, one newspaper reports Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng alleging that the Penang Hill Railway had been brought down by sabotage.
Lim not convinced with canine excuse for Penang Hill train failure (The Star, 6 May 2011)
TRANSIT Says:
Yeah…this is getting weirder and weirder. So we don’t know what to say. So we thought we would leave it to another blogger, Anil Netto (based in Penang) who has a few additional posts on the Penang Hill Railway upgrading project:
- Flaws in ‘upgraded’ Penang Hill Railway (6 May 2011);
- Penang Hill Railway ‘upgrade’: From RM40m to RM73m (7 May 2011);
TRANSIT Says:
Penang State politics, BN and Pakatan politics, DAP vs. MCA politics. Why does public transport in Malaysia always have to involve politics?
Transit Malaysia 
One reply on “PHR Update: Who let the dogs out?”
From the looks of it, it might turn into a political issue. I told everybody before hands already (WARNING) that PLEASE, PLEASE do not turn the issue of funicular train into political issues and must get rid of Malaysia Boleh “achievement”, which is first world facilities, third world maintenance.