Reviews & Press : : Penang Trams, Trolleybuses & Railways: Municipal Transport History 1880s-1963

New Sunday Times
22 January 2006
by Marina Emmanuel

Those were the days

They had it over the years, a transport system that served the people. MARINA EMMANUEL takes a nostalgic peek into a book on Penang's public transport system in which the island took great pride.

OH, those days of steam trams, horse trams, electric trams and trolley buses. No, this is not a fairy tale about Malaysian public transport. These modes of public transport existed in Penang from the 1880s till, sadly, 1963 when the last trolley bus ceased to run. The early Penang planners were mindful of the fact that efficient transport for people and goods was essential for developing the economy.

And over two centuries, the island developed from a trading post to a seaport, and later an offshore manufacturing base for some of the world's technology giants.

"We had a public transport system any city would have been proud of," recalls Datuk Dr Anwar Fazal, a former assistant city secretary for the City Council of George Town.

"Penang had a highly impressive people-friendly and eco-friendly transport system, with the municipal tram and trolley bus services, the funicular railway, and trishaw and pedal power."

The story of Penang's tramways, trolley buses and railways is described by Anwar as a "great one" in his foreward of the book Penang Trams, Trolley buses and Railways: Municipal Transport History 1880s-1963 by Ric Francis and Colin Ganley.

"As an outstanding example of people-oriented, ecologically sustainable and economically viable public transport, Penang met all the highest standards of the three 'E's that are the hallmark of good, sustainable development - equity, ecology and economics." Francis, an Australian transport historian, is no stranger to Penang's public transport system.

He has authored books on the subject, including one on the Penang Hill funicular railway system. Ganley took an interest in George Town's transport when he visited Penang between 1960 and 1963 during his school holidays. His father worked for the British Government in Singapore at that time.
Ganley, who is a registration executive for the British Land Registry in Telford, developed a keen interest in the local transport systems, notably the trolley buses of George Town and Singapore.

In the 111-page book, which is supported by the Municipal Council of Penang Island, readers are given a pictorial history of the various forms of public transport used in George Town through the more than 100
photographs, maps and illustrations.

The pivotal role played by the transport network in the growth of the island's economy, social and cultural life is showcased by the authors with great detail and painstaking research. They tell the tale of when the Municipal Commission established its own electrical supply, took over the tram service and started the electric trams in 1906.

This service was said to be an excellent public transport around George Town, with one line going up to Ayer Itam town in the centre of the island.

The late 1920s saw the municipality replacing trams with trolley buses, and even experimenting with reconditioned double-decker buses from London Transport. The municipality also operated two railways: the Penang Hill Railway, which was considered an engineering marvel when it was built, and the
electric railway which transported supplies and tin ingots for Penang's foremost smelting plant, the Eastern Smelting Company. Located at the Datuk Keramat Road commercial area in the heart of
George Town, the company was the country's largest and longest-running smelting plant.
Eastern Smelting used the municipality's electric railway to bring tin ore for its smelting works and transport tin ingots to the harbour for export. (The smelting plant closed down in 1998 due to a shortage of tin ore, high labour costs and the factory's location in the city centre.)

Novices to public transport issues and its evolution will find the book highly informative, notably the chapter on the Penang Hill funicular railway, the only one of its kind in Southeast Asia. An account of World War II from a public transport perspective, along with a chapter of the three local bus companies - Lim Seng Seng Bus Company Limited, Hin Company Limited and the Yellow Bus Service - are
also interesting.

The book makes reference to the Penang Information Guide 1951 which singled out the Lim Seng Seng bus service for offering "every comfort to passengers".

"Every bus is installed with a radio receiver and the seats upholstered with Dunlopillo cushions," the guide notes. "The company also employs a team of young, educated and polite conductresses." For authorities on the subject, like Anwar, who was senior regional adviser to the United Nations Development Programme's Urban Governance Initiative, the book serves as a reminder of sorts.

"Sadly, Penang's lead in exemplary transport was lost over time, in a frenzy of hasty modernisation and misplaced priorities," he says.

"We lost a vital system, and with that, have increased our costs in human and ecology terms via traffic jams, endless road-building and road widening, loss of greenery, worsening air quality, noise pollution and heavy petrol subsidies.

"As social inequities in terms of access and mobility increase, urban growth ironically translates into the decline of urban environment and community life." - marinae@nst.com.my

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