Penang ferry services to be upgraded

[The following is a piece of news from the Star, related to my earlier posting.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/20/nation/20080520162808&sec=nation. I did forward my last posting on ferry to Jeff Ooi and have not received any reply yet.]

Tuesday May 20, 2008 MYT 7:24:02 PM

Penang ferry services to be upgraded
By ZULKIFLY MOHAMAD


BUTTERWORTH: Penang ferry services between here and the island will not be scrapped despite losing over RM50mil over the past four years.

State Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said that the Finance Ministry, which owns Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) that operates the services, had made it clear that the services must not be stopped for whatever reason.

“We will instead upgrade the ferry services. We may also introduce catamarans to complement the existing services.

“However, the catamarans will only be used once approval is given by the Federal Government,” he told reporters Tuesday after attending a briefing on the ferry services and a visit to the ferry terminal here.

PPSB chief operating officer Mohd Niana Merican Abd Kadir Merican had said recently that the vehicular ferry service would be scrapped on completion of the expansion of the Penang Bridge in September next year.

He had said the company planned to operate a speedboat ferry service, as it was cheaper and more efficient.

Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop then said any decision to scrap the service between Penang island and Seberang Prai will be made only by the Federal Government.

He said both his ministry and the Transport Ministry would make such a decision if it proved to be viable.

“We have not decided on anything. The matter has not even been tabled to the Cabinet for consideration. At present, as far as the Finance Ministry is concerned, there is no issue over this."

Lim said the ferry services were running at a loss due to many reasons, including fuel increase and low passengers and traffic volume.

PPSB posted a loss of RM12.11mil for its ferry service operations in 2004, RM13.4mil (2005), RM10.73mil (2006) and RM14.69mil last year.

Presently, six of the eight ferries are used to ply between here and the island while the other two are on standby and under maintenance.

The six ferries ply 120 trips daily. Each trip cost PPSB RM772 and the company makes RM421 for each full load trip resulting in a loss of about RM350 for each trip.

Lim said an average of 4,000 cars, 5,500 motorbikes, 500 lorries and 6,000 passengers used the services daily.

“All in, 110,560 cars used the ferry services last year compared to 1.24mil cars that crossed the bridge during the period,” he added.

He said PPSB could not raise the ferry fares without the Government’s approval despite suffering annual losses.

He added the services might face a greater challenge when the expansion of the Penang bridge is completed in September next year and once the second bridge was ready in 2011.

On the upgrading exercise, Lim said the passengers waiting area at the Butterworth side would be improved.

“New fans will be installed and the floors will be tiled for easy maintenance and cleanliness,” he said.