KUALA LUMPUR: Penang Sentral Sdn Bhd (PSSB), tasked to develop the RM2.05 billion Penang Sentral mixed project with an integrated transport hub in the northern state, will take about five to six months to complete a study on the proposed Penang Sky Cab linking Penang island to the mainland.

A PSSB spokesman told The Edge Financial Daily that any matter in connection with the mooted cable car system would be finalised once the study is completed.

On Wednesday, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that PSSB was in the final stages of exploration to build a 3.66km cable car service linking Gat Lebuh Noordin on the island to the Penang Sentral transport hub in Butterworth.

Guan Eng said the proposal made by the state to PSSB was an additional project to the RM2 billion integrated public transportation network that began construction last year.

In a statement yesterday, PSSB said the study was to ascertain the functionalities and design parameters of the proposed Sky Cab linking both the locations across the North Channel.

“We wish to inform that a study is currently underway to ascertain the functionalities. A study is being conducted in connection with the mooted cable car linkage as mentioned.

“This study will at least take five to six months to complete before any matters in connection with the Sky Cab proposal are finalised,” it added.

The cable car project, touted to be ready by 2018, is a brand new idea that was not featured in the RM27 billion Penang Transport Master Plan, which has a 15-year completion period.

Guan Eng also said PSSB, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (fundamental: 0.6; valuation: 0.6), was working out the details and was not able to reveal the estimated cost of the project.

Preliminary designs reveal that the Penang Sky Cab would have 40 gondolas that could transport up to 1,000 persons every hour on a 15-minute journey and take in the views of the middle of the channel through an observatory tower.

PSSB representative Shireen Iqbal was also quoted as saying that the Penang Sky Cab’s main objective was to improve tourism in the state while championing green technology and providing an alternative passage for pedestrians to cross the channel.

“The service will provide an easy, convenient and frequent travel for passengers who would also enjoy the services provided at the transportation hub in Penang Sentral,” she said.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 17, 2015.