With two bridges linking Penang’s island and mainland, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng now looks towards an aerial connection to stitch more tightly the state’s two halves together.
The announcement, in all honesty, came as a surprise. With work on an RM6.3bil undersea tunnel slated to begin next year, few were expecting news on any further links between Penang’s island and mainland. So, understandably, the disclosure of quiet, ongoing discussions between the state government and Penang Sentral – the upcoming central integrated transport hub under the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) – in mid-April created waves all over the state.
The idea of the Penang Sky Cab, in principle, is simple: gondolas, linked by nine galvanized steel towers, ferrying passengers across the 3km distance between Butterworth on the mainland and Gat Lebuh Noordin on the island. At maximum capacity, the aerial link will be able to transport 2,000 passengers per hour, with the journey taking roughly 15 minutes in total.
Targeted for completion in 2018, the project is estimated to cost between RM250mil and RM300mil, which includes the construction of an observation tower above the North Channel.
Not everyone is on board, however. Concerns raised about the project include the argument that it is an impractical transport solution with poor potential for addressing the rising traffic congestion in the state. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, nevertheless, is forging forward, insisting that more transport alternatives are essential in bridging the gap between Penang’s two halves.
