Tunnel bars use of ‘455s’

I’m afraid Robert Black’s suggestion of using Class 455s on the Isle of Wight ( RAIL 828) would come to grief the first time one of them tried to go into Ryde tunnel.

When the line was electrified in 1967, the tunnel floor was raised so that the live rail would be above the level of the floods that regularly occur there. (Steam locomotives could cope with floods rather better!) This is why nothing larger than Tube stock has been able to use the line for the past halfcentury.

The Isle of Wight may be scenic and sunny, but I don’t think it’s ready for open-top Class 455s quite yet! Tim Lidbetter, Kingston upon Thames