Penang Car Ferry Service Scheduled to End December 31st

Automologist MAC bids a sad farewell to the beloved but outdated Penang Car Ferry.

A lot of nostalgia for what is now an irrelevance?

For many Malaysians, a trip to Penang Island on the West Coast of the Peninsular would not be complete without using the iconic Penang Car Ferry. Even though, for many years, there has been a really good bridge – two, in fact – every time I went up there, I would go at least one way on the ferry. It was not any sort of pleasure cruise. In fact, it was a little inconvenient. The queue to get on, and smelly in parts, and definitely a bit noisy, but it was just such a great throwback to the good old days of travel. And I loved it, as did my kids.

Basic does not really describe it….it was Spartan!

Well, as of December 31st, there will no longer be a car ferry service crossing between the Mainland and the Island, and I for one will be a little sad about that. You will still be able to get a train to Butterworth and walk to a catamaran service for pedestrians, but the old rusty and noisy and smelly and a little dilapidated car ferry will be no more.

For many, it wasn’t even worth getting off your bike.

There are only two of the Ferrys left and of course, with the expansion of the State of Penang and the way that public transportation has grown, the writing was always on the wall for the Ferry service. How could it “compete” with the two bridges? Well, it couldn’t and so now it will be a footnote in history, and due to time constraints and current travel restrictions, I will not be able to ride the Ferry one last time and that makes me a little sad. Selamat tinggal, my old friend.

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