Hong Kong's Peak Tram, one of the world's oldest funicular railways, celebrated the 120th anniversary of its opening on Friday by offering round trips at 0. 3 HK dollars -- the same fare as when it was launched.

Thousands queued in Central, Hong Kong, for a taste of the nostalgic trip in the morning, and the operator Peak Tramways Company had to call for the public to choose alternative means of transport to the Peak.

As many as 6,000 were waiting in long lines in the afternoon. Some said they wanted the special edition tickets which were the same as those used in 1888, when the opening of the Peak Tram made headlines in the local newspaper supplements.

The conductors, wearing uniforms that had been worn by tram staff 120 years ago, punched passengers' tickets using mechanical "ringing" ticket punchers.

The company stopped passengers from joining the long queue at 6: 30 p.m.

The Peak Tram officially opened in May 1888 and has since been one of the major means of transport linking the downtown Central and the neighborhood at the Peak. It rises from 28 meters to 396 meters above the sea level along a 1.4 km track.

It is now one of the popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2008)