The classic burgundy Peak Tram, which has been in service for 32 years, will be officially retired on June 28 this year. The Peak Tram service will also be suspended for about six months from that date, after which the new sixth-generation tramcars will be launched. As soon as the news broke, people went to take a last ride on the current trams before they retired, and some railway fans also came to take photos of the tramcar.

In the past, the lower terminus station on Garden Road was always packed with long queues of people. Since the beginning of the pandemic, tourists are no longer an everyday part of Hong Kong’s cityscape, and taking a ride on the tram is no longer a strenuous task, with queues to purchase tickets becoming a matter of minutes. May Tsang, General Manager of The Peak Tramways, pointed out that more than 90% of their customers are tourists and only about 10% are local residents, and the annual ridership in the past year has dropped from a peak of 6 million to 1 million as a result of the pandemic.

The Peak Tram has been in operation for 133 years since 1888, accompanying Hong Kong people across three centuries and witnessing the development of a small fishing port into a metropolis. The funicular railways have undergone several upgrades over the decades. The current fifth-generation tramcars have been in service for 32 years since 1989, and no decision has yet been made as to where they will go after decommissioning. The company is discussing with other organizations the possibility of retaining the current trams and it is believed that an announcement will be made in the near future. The previous generation tram became a visitor information center at the Peak Galleria after it was decommissioned. The longest-serving tramcar is the 38-year-old wooden-bodied carriage first generation, which was operated by coal-fired steam boilers and could only seat up to 30 passengers.

The Peak Tramway Company has yet to announce the design of the sixth-generation Peak Tram. May Tsang has revealed that the new tramcars, like the current edition, are made in Switzerland, and will retain the classical design of wooden seats, glass windows and skylights, while eliminating the current staircase design between the carriage and the platform to make it more accessible for wheelchairs. In addition, the new tram carriage will have a longer body, increasing the passenger capacity from 120 to 210, and the termini will be renovated to cater for the new and larger tram carriage.

At the end of the 19th century, the population of Hong Kong was only 170,000 with only 30 to 40 families living on the Peak. Just like today, those who lived on the Peak were either wealthy or privileged, but in the past, people had to travel up the Peak by sedan chair and the journey up took about an hour. At the time, there was a Peak Hotel on the Peak, which was built in 1873. The owner, Alexander Findlay Smith, was a Scotsman who used to work on the Highland Railway in his hometown. In order to increase the patronage on the Peak, in 1881, he presented a petition for the right to build the Peak Tram to Governor Sir William Des Voeux. Findlay Road on the Peak, in fact, was named after Findlay Smith. In those days, the Hong Kong Peak Tram was the first funicular railway in Asia.

In 1904, the Hong Kong government introduced the Hill District Reservation Ordinance, which prohibited Chinese from living on the Peak. At the time, the carriage was divided into first class, second class and third class. The first class, which cost 45 cents, was reserved for British colonial officials and residents of the Victoria Peak; the second class, which cost 30 cents, was reserved for British military and Hong Kong Police Force personnel; and the third class, which cost 15 cents, was reserved for the general public and animals. This system was employed until 1947, when it was abolished.

The 1,365-meter-long tramway operates with only two cars, one at the upper terminus at the Peak and the other at the lower terminus station at the base of the mountain. The two cars are connected by two haulage ropes of 4.4 cm in diameter, which are wound around a giant haulage drum of 4.4 m in diameter at the upper terminus at the Peak Tower. The tramcars run close to the tracks, and on the way up, the haulage rope pulls the tram up, and on the way down, the haulage rope glides down and the two tramcars move in synchronization. The Peak Tram has been operating in this manner for many years.

Senior captain Chan Chi-tak (aka Tak), who has been working at the Peak Tramway for 25 years, started his career as a ticket clerk and has been operating the fifth-generation trams since he became a captain. Rather than feeling sad, he is looking forward to the arrival of the new trams, “I’m a little sorry to see them go, but I’m even more excited for the new trams to arrive soon, just like getting your hands on a new private car!” His parents took him to ride the tram for the first time when he was 10 years old, and it was still the previous generation of the green tram. “At that time, it was a big deal for kids to go out and do something. Riding the Peak Tram was even a greater deal than going to the park.”

The Peak Tramway Company has a long history, with many of its senior employees working there for 30 to 40 years. May Tsang recalled a story shared with her by a retired engineering colleague: “At that time, the company was running the fourth-generation trams, and amahs who used to work in the Peak would take the tram up every day after grocery shopping. They would carry live chickens and ducks on board, and as soon as the amahs sat down and slightly relaxed their grips, the livestock would run wild inside the carriage!”

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