More than 600,000 people used the Ngong Ping 360 cable-car system from January to April, seeing the number of users returning to levels seen before its December service resumption.

Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Frederick Ma told the Legislative Council today more than 5,000 people used the system daily during the period, similar to last year's figure.

Mr Ma said there were three service suspensions lasting 30 minutes or more in March and April and the Government has written to the company urging it to strengthen the operation, maintenance and management of the system.

The Electrical & Mechanical Services Department said the incidents were not caused by mechanical wear. The service suspensions were caused by improper belt tension, which led to dislodgement of driving belts from their normal positions. The incorrect separation between the cabins inside the station activated the monitoring system and halted the operation of the cable car system.

The company installed additional tensioners for all non-linear belt and pulley assemblies at Ngong Ping Terminal in April. Works at Nei Lak Shan Angle Station will be completed this month.