Despite voices to the contrary, it does look like it’s the end of the road for the iconic Penang ferry. On the night of December 31, the long-running ferry service will make its final run, ending its more than century-long history, The Star reports.
On January 1, Penang Port (PPSB) will take over the operations of the service and begin utilising its new water buses, which will come in the form of two fast boats. As reported previously, they will only carry passengers, meaning that cars travelling in and out of Penang will no longer be able to count on the alternative option of making the crossing by water.
“The two fast boats are here, and unless there is a new directive, we will stick to the plan of using the fast boats from January 1 to temporarily ferry passengers,” said PPSB CEO Sasedharan Vasudevan. He added that one of the existing ferries would still be in service, but used only to transport two-wheelers (motorcycles and bicycles) until it is replaced by new vehicle transporters.
Sasedaran said that the two ferry terminals will be revamped for to cater for the docking of the water buses and vehicle transporters. The upgrades are expected to take 12 to 18 months, and the total cost of the refurbishment as well as the acquisition of the new vessels is expected to cost around RM64 million, he said.
Once the refurbishment is completed, the channel crossing service will have three water buses for passengers and two vehicle transporters for two-wheelers. The latter will completely replace the old ferries, likely by the third quarter of 2021.
Sasedaran said that the new boats, which can take 200 passengers per trip, will shorten the travel time substantially. Both it and the new vehicle transporter, which can handle 100 motorcycles and bicycles, will be able to make the crossing faster than the old ferry.
The latest update follows on a week of uncertainty over the old ferries’ future existence. On December 15, it was revealed that the current Rapid Ferry fleet would be retired from service at the end of the year, which prompted calls from various parties to maintain their use.
Finance minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz then waded in by saying in Parliament that the ferry service would continue. “The government will impose a condition on Penang Port to carry on the iconic and heritage ferry service,” he said, explaining that this condition would be imposed in relation to the RM15 million out of the RM30 million that has been approved for PPSB to take over the ferry service from Prasarana.
It remains to be seen if the old ferries have a future. Difficulties in keeping the ageing fleet running and service disruptions prompted the decision to retire them from service, and it would take more than just money to keep them going, because replacement parts are getting harder to source.
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aiyahhh.. so difficult one. run all la in parallel. those want faster take the water bus.
cars will have to queue as usual.
Kereta terbang bhai … tak heran. Kucing kt jangan
That’s not how it works. The horrible thing about the ferry currently is that it’s extremely slow especially if you are unlucky and only 2 ferries are in operation. Regardless if you are pedestrian or in a vehicle. What’s the point of continuing the current ferry for cars if it’s still slow? Penangites who have used it daily knows the struggle and would rather get stuck in the bridge with traffic jam then to wait for hours and not move an inch. Also there’s nothing iconic about it. It’s hideous and deserves to be put out of its misery.
You don’t speak for Penangites.
Cheaper n faster to take shuttle bus to cross from Swettenham pier to mainland.
Neither do you. Step of the high ground and get your facts right rather than being a loud speaker for your party.
HSR from 3 hours total travel time to 45 mins is a stupid idea. Caters for millions in riders and GDP.
Ferry for kampung to pinang kampung in 15 mins is a good idea. Caters for hundreds in zero GDP.
HSR brings in billions of income from high income earners. Ferry bring in only mere millions on income from low income earners. Which makes more sense? In the first place, it was greedy penang gomen that forced low income earners having to move onto mainland. Otherwise they have no need to use ferry.
Actually Billions from who ya you do realised that HSR is now ending in Johor which is still Malaysia who is the ones going to bring in Billions?
Good job bn
What if the ferry sinks,due to its dilapidated state?Better use modern boats.Dont be nostalgic.
Dilapidated bcoz Penang state gahmen prefers use money for banglos and not maintain the ships for 10 years.
” because replacement parts are getting harder to source ”
typical comment of someone with zero knowledge of ships.
ships are not cars. main issue for ships are not parts, but keeping rust at bay. a ship with good rust mitigation and control can be refitted and used for plenty of years with no issues.
look at wiki page of star ferries hong kong. majority of the fleet are built in the 60s, and now rebuilt and refitted with advanced state of the art diesel electric propulsion systems.
Penang ferries hv been rebuilt quite a number of times. Not a bad idea to hv faster boats to take over slower ferries.
But penang ferries is what made penang “an island”… The bridge dont make penang an island.. It just not the same. I m glad we hv bridges. But nice to hv ferries as alternative and tourism.
If PPSB cannot make the old ferries to work even with RM30 million annual budget from the federal government, on top of whatever ticket collection that they get, they must be a bunch of incompetent fools.
PPSB is state owned. Guess whom the incompetent fools that runs the state.
Projek tanpa orang tengah lagi? Habis makan sendiri?? Atau projek beli mahal??? (Tak apa, janji tak beli murah)
Actually it will be a problem for many people. Those who live in George Town and need to go to the northern part of the mainland would be in trouble. They have to drive up all the way to the bridge and then turn back. The traffic jam during the peak period is already unbearable. It is going to be a nightmare to them.
Why are those ferries from Langkawi plying in our Penang water? Those in authority please enlighten me on this matter. Is this going to be on long term basis? Business will come to normal again after the pandemic. Will these ferries stay then?