The Penang Hill funicular railway service which was disrupted on Friday, is expected to be fully restored today.

Penang Hill Corporation (PHC) general manager Maklen Ali said the disruption was due to a minor technical hitch, forcing the train to move slower than usual.

“The train neither encountered any serious malfunction nor stopped midway,” he said, regretting a report in an English language daily which stated that some passengers were trapped inside the coach as the doors failed to open.

“There was no such incident and the train was actually moving to its destination, but at a speed where the arrival would be in 20 minutes, as compared to the normal seven minutes," he told reporters in George Town yesterday.

Maklen expressed PHC’s apologies to affected passengers, adding that more than 1,300 Penang Hill visitors were shuttled down by the train by 11.30pm on Friday night.

- Bernama