Update | Peak Tram service cancelled as power failure leaves tourists disappointed
Large numbers of visitors miss out on famous experience on one of the biggest days of the year for iconic Hong Kong attraction
Hong Kong’s famous Peak Tram services have been suspended due to a power failure and are unlikely to resume within the day, leaving tourists disappointed at the conclusion of the three-day golden week holiday.
Services usually commence at 7am, but on Monday, Peak buses had to be diverted through the Garden Road Peak Tram Station, with green minibus route No 1 between Peak Garden and Central also strengthened to handle the extra load.
Bus route 15C – running between Star Ferry Pier and Peak Tram Terminus – has been suspended.
A maintenance worker told the Post that the tram suspension was due to a power failure, and operations were not likely to resume on the same day.
“[The maintenance] will take a while ... We need to see tomorrow,” said the worker, who refused to give his name.
“The children are very disappointed,” said Lucy Tyo, a mother of four from the Philippines.
She said the kids were excited to take the cable car for the first time in Hong Kong, but they were told only on Monday morning that they had to take a regular double-decker.
Tourists who bought cable car tickets in advance may not be able to get their money back.
A staff member near the ticket office told the Post that those tourists would not get a refund from the company, explaining that it had not cashed the tickets it sold through third-party platforms. Whether customers could get their money back depended on the platform operators, she said, suggesting that tourists contact the sellers directly.
“Come here tomorrow,” another staff member said, though Monday is the last day of the golden week vacation.
Hundreds of staff at the attraction were also affected.
“We did not get advance notice from my company today,” she said.
“ I found out only when I got here this morning.”
She decided to take a taxi instead as it was already late, she added.
Opening hours were affected at some shops at the Peak.
Enzo Mau, an employee at Swatch, said the watch shop opened half an hour late due to the suspension of cable car services. She took a taxi to work.
Bonnie Leung, a clerk at Sunglass Hut, said two of her colleagues were still struggling to get on a bus at about noon. But they did not seem to have missed much, as only two groups of customers had visited the store since it opened at 10am.
“There are not many customers this golden week,” Leung said.
