Hartasuma has won the Penang Cable Car project in Penang Hill where the company will design, build, finance, operate and transfer with an RM250mil investment via a public-private partnership initiative with the Penang State government.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is also chairman of Penang Hill Corp, made the announcement during a press conference earlier today. The company won the project after a Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued to solicit the best proposal for the cable car service commenced.
Hartasuma will own the concession for this tourist attraction over the next 30 years, where it will be responsible for maintaining and operating the cable car throughout the period. The project is expected to take three years to complete and be operational.
It is believed the project executor is partnering with Austrian-based Dopplemayr Group who is a global market leader in the manufacture of ropeways and people movers, having built more than 15,100 installations for customers in 96 nations.
The Penang cable car project, the cable car system will have a capacity of 1,000 passengers per hour at a speed of 6 meters per second, using 43 gondola cabins. There will be a total of 15 towers along the line, and the journey time from lower to upper station will take 10 minutes.
Doppelmayr is no stranger to the Malaysian transportation landscape, having developed the Langkawi Cable Car project as well as the recently upgraded Penang Funicular Railway.
As part of its proposal, Hartasuma is also establishing the Cable and Rail Centre of Excellence (CROE) in Penang, and this will bring together world-class facilities, skilled workers, and technological development in cable and rail technology.
