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The Peak Tram is a funicular railway which carries both tourists and residents to the upper levels of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong.
Running from Garden Road Admiralty to Victoria Peak via the Mid-Levels, it provides the most direct route and offers good views over the harbour and skyscrapers of Hong Kong.
In 1881 Alexander Findlay Smith first put the project of a Peak Railway into shape and presented a petition for a concession to the governor of Hong Kong. The necessary legislation was passed two years later, and the construction was begun in 1885.
As a revolutionary new form of transport for Asia at the time, the tramway was considered a marvel of engineering upon its completion. It was opened for public service in 1888 by the then governor Sir George William des Voeux. As built, the line used a static steam engine to power the haulage cable. It was at first used only for residents of Victoria Peak. Despite that, it carried 800 passengers on its first day of operation, and about 150,000 in its first year. The tram's existence accelerated the residential development of Victoria Peak and the Mid-Levels.
From 1908 to 1949, the first two seats in the front of the tram were reserved for the governor of Hong Kong, to which was attached a bronze plaque reading: "This seat is reserved for His Excellency the Governor". The seats were not available to ordinary passengers until two minutes before departure.
In 1926, the steam engine was replaced by an electric motor. In 1941 during the Battle of Hong Kong, the engine room was damaged in an attack. Services were not resumed until after the end of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
In 1956, the Peak Tram was equipped with a new generation of lightweight metal-bodied cars, each of which seated 62 passengers.
The system was comprehensively rebuilt in 1989 by the Swiss company, Von Roll, with a new track, a computerized control system, and two new two-car trams with a capacity of 120 passengers per tram. By the time of Hong Kong's transfer from Britain to China the system carried some 2 million passengers annually, today, more than 4 million people ride the Peak Tram annually, or an average of over 11,000 every day.
Of prior rolling stock, only two 1956 fourth generation all-aluminium cars survive; one is displayed at the upper terminal, and another can be seen on a disused spur track after leaving Garden Road. No earlier cars exist, but a replica of the first car is displayed in the Peak Tram Historical Gallery.
Information Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Tram
40245
The Peak Tram is a funicular railway which carries both tourists and residents to the upper levels of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong.
Running from Garden Road Admiralty to Victoria Peak via the Mid-Levels, it provides the most direct route and offers good views over the harbour and skyscrapers of Hong Kong.
In 1881 Alexander Findlay Smith first put the project of a Peak Railway into shape and presented a petition for a concession to the governor of Hong Kong. The necessary legislation was passed two years later, and the construction was begun in 1885.
As a revolutionary new form of transport for Asia at the time, the tramway was considered a marvel of engineering upon its completion. It was opened for public service in 1888 by the then governor Sir George William des Voeux. As built, the line used a static steam engine to power the haulage cable. It was at first used only for residents of Victoria Peak. Despite that, it carried 800 passengers on its first day of operation, and about 150,000 in its first year. The tram's existence accelerated the residential development of Victoria Peak and the Mid-Levels.
From 1908 to 1949, the first two seats in the front of the tram were reserved for the governor of Hong Kong, to which was attached a bronze plaque reading: "This seat is reserved for His Excellency the Governor". The seats were not available to ordinary passengers until two minutes before departure.
In 1926, the steam engine was replaced by an electric motor. In 1941 during the Battle of Hong Kong, the engine room was damaged in an attack. Services were not resumed until after the end of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
In 1956, the Peak Tram was equipped with a new generation of lightweight metal-bodied cars, each of which seated 62 passengers.
The system was comprehensively rebuilt in 1989 by the Swiss company, Von Roll, with a new track, a computerized control system, and two new two-car trams with a capacity of 120 passengers per tram. By the time of Hong Kong's transfer from Britain to China the system carried some 2 million passengers annually, today, more than 4 million people ride the Peak Tram annually, or an average of over 11,000 every day.
Of prior rolling stock, only two 1956 fourth generation all-aluminium cars survive; one is displayed at the upper terminal, and another can be seen on a disused spur track after leaving Garden Road. No earlier cars exist, but a replica of the first car is displayed in the Peak Tram Historical Gallery.
Information Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Tram