The Peak Tram is a funicular
railway in Hong Kong, which carries both tourists and residents to the
upper levels of Hong Kong Island. It provides the most direct route and
offers good views over the harbour and skyscrapers of Hong Kong. The Peak
Tram's route from Central district to Victoria Peak covers a distance of
about 1.4 kilometres and an elevation of just under 400 metres.
The upper terminus, The Peak
is located below the Peak Tower shopping and leisure complex at Victoria
Gap, some 150 meters below the summit of Victoria Peak. The station comprises
a single track, with platforms on both sides. One platform is used for
boarding, the other for exiting the tram.
The lower terminus station, Garden
Road, is located on Garden Road near St. John's Cathedral.
The construction was begun
in September 1885 and in May 1888 the line was officially opened. Most
of the heavy equipment and rails needed for the construction were hauled
uphill by the workers with no mechanical support. As a revolutionary new
form of transport for Asia at the time, the tramway was considered a marvel
of engineering upon its completion.
The original line used a static
steam engine to power the haulage cable. It was at first used only for
residents of Victoria Peak. Despite that, it carried 800 passengers on
its first day of operation, and about 150,000 in its first year, transported
in the line's original wooden-bodied cars.[The tram's existence accelerated
the residential development of Victoria Peak and the Mid Levels.