rkkwan

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_d...amp;con_type=3

Happened when they're testing emergency brakes at night. Anyways, very fortunately nobody was hurt.

Mind you that these are very big gondolas, with capacity of 8 sitting and 9 standing. And it crossed over water, lots of very steep terrain, and a couple of roadways.

Scary.

Tim_and_Liz

wow! Thanks for posting. This was on my list of things to do for next March, so I will be interested to see what happens. It is possible to take a bus there instead, correct?

Liz

TracyB

OMG...how scary is that!! I guess i had a reason for being a little frightened when we were just on it in Janurary!!!

rkkwan

Tim_and_Liz - Yes, you can still get up to Ngong Ping the old fashioned ways. By bus from the Tung Chung MTR, or from the Mui Wo Pier.

j_4tay

Yes Liz, you can take bus to Ngong Ping/Po Lin Monastery. There are routes to the location.

1. take MTR to Tung Chung Station, then take bus #23.
2. the slower route is to take the ferry to Mui Wo from Central. Then take bus #2.

rrkwan: I'm also glad nobody got hurt. I'm not sure I will ride it again. It was scary the last time I rode it. The strong wind was blowing the car left and right. When looking down, you knew you weren't going to survive if the cable snapped. Thus, I advised people not to ride it if they are afraid of height.

rkkwan

I really enjoyed the ride and marveled at its scale and engineering.

But I've also strongly criticized the whole NP360 project, especially the marketplace. It's a shameless, short-sighted, culturally and religiously insensitive project planned out by the quasi-government MTR corporation, and agreed upon by Po Lin Monastery.

I sincerely hope that this whole thing will fail miserably. I wouldn't wish any injury or death, of course. But karma is catching on...

Cicerone

I am sure you don't mean Karma, which is a Hindu concept, but whatever...they cheaped the job out and should have given it to Swiss engineers, IMO, and they would not have had this problem. (A big gondola is 100 people to the Swiss). It's of course HUGE news here. Most people think that it's just a case of cheap construction and maintenance, which is a sort of karma of a type as those things come home to roost.

There are many lovely places to walk and have stunning views that don't involve taking a gondola or having a bad meal at the Po Lin monastery or even leaving Hong Kong Island.

rkkwan

I am interested in all religions and have no religious preference, so I DO mean karma.

Anyways, I don't think it has much to do with the Italian manufacturer that makes the cable system or the French manufacturer that makes the gondolas. But it's about operation and maintenance by Skyrail, which I believe is the joint-venture between MTR and Skyrail or Australia.

Afterall, there are big gondolas that operate around the world, and I can't seem to recall one falling off a cable anywhere.

jules39

wow! I am so glad this happened when they were doing tests and no one was on board and that it didn't fall on anyone below. Could have been a nightmare.

rkkwan

I've been reading more on local Chinese newspapers' websites and a local transportation discussion board last night.

It seems like they were not doing any testing, and the cars were just being transported back to Tung Chung two-by-two when it happened.

It's also interesting that it happened merely hours after MTR came out with a press release that ridership was exceeding expectation. It also happened just days after the Legislative Council approved the controversial merger of MTRC and KCRC. If this happened a week ago, it might have derailed that merger (pun intended).

darna

I was looking forward to that cable car ride for our November trip. So, how much time does it take to go to Po Lin Monastery or the fishing village at Lantau by bus coming from Citygate? How's the bus ride? In your opinion, is the view along the way worth the trip?

rkkwan

I've loved the bus ride for a long time. It takes about 45 minutes from Tung Chung to Po Lin Monastery on bus #23. You first climbed up on a one-lane road to Pak Kung Au, a pass at about 1,100ft between the Lantau Peak Peak and Sunset Peak (2nd and 3rd tallest in HK); then you dropped back down to water level on the south side of Lantau.

Then you climb again, going across the main dam of Shek Pik Reservoir (3rd largest in HK, in terms of volume), then very steep climb up to Ngong Ping, 1,500ft above sea level.

I've taken the bus to Ngong Ping perhaps 30 times, and I still love it. Not good if you're prone to motion sickness.

It's also about 45 minutes from Tung Chung to Tai O on bus #11. Between Tai O and Ngong Ping, it's about 15 minutes on bus #21.

You can find map and schedule (click on the map to get to the schedule pages) at:

www.newlantaobus.com (Yes, they spell it with an "o&quot.

darna

Sounds good! How do we get to the bus terminal from Novotel Citygate?

rkkwan

Short walk. The bus terminus is adjacent to the MTR station, which is via the air-conditioned walkway from the Novotel.

Same route as going to the Skyrail station.

rkkwan

Latest news... They've hired Swiss and Austrian experts to find out what happened. Report won't be ready for at least 2-3 months. Right now, they don't expect the Skyrail to reopen in time for the October 1st holiday.

rkkwan

Big announcement on 9/18. It's expected that the government and MTR are working to terminate the 20-year contract with Australia's Skyrail, exactly one year after the cable car opened.

I was reading a newspaper article just now and it showed the opening ceremony a year ago with all the big shots from MTR and Skyrail cutting up roasted pigs right in front of Po Lin Monastery.

No wonder they have all these troubles.

rkkwan

Update from local newspaper... The NP360 cable car may reopen before Christmas Day. They're now lining up VIPs to "test ride" them in the next few days.

After terminating the operating contract with Australia's Skyrail, it won't use the Skyrail name anymore.

I'll be in Hong Kong shortly. If it reopens in time, I'll probably go ride it again.

Come to think of it, this forum is one of the top travel forums in the world. If these NP360 people were smart, they should had invited me to ride it and report my experience here. And I'm not joking.

j_4tay

NP360 will be reopen on New Year's Eve. The ride is exciting, but not recommend people who are afraid of height.

rkkwan

Well, Fodorite <b>yk</b> will arrive in Hong Kong just in time to ride it. Seniors ride free for the first few weeks, so my parents will likely go with her, first week of Jan.

I've already ridden it a year ago, so may have to skip it this time around.

It'll be interesting to find out how many people turn out to ride it when it reopens.