Isle of Wight rail revival

Heavy and light rail solutions should be investigated to secure the long-term future of rail services on the Isle of Wight, according to the island’s council.

The railway, which is part of the South Western Railway franchise, is in urgent need of substantial investment. Its former Tube trains are nearly 80 years old, and the infrastructure is in poor condition.

An Isle of Wight Council meeting reaffirmed support for the line, and recommended that it must remain part of SWR. Councillors also voted to consider enabling the Isle of Wight Steam Railway to extend its services from Smallbrook Junction into Island Line’s Ryde St Johns Road station. And they want to explore extending beyond the western end of the current steam railway at Wootton, to reopen the former line into Newport.

“We need to think flexibly about what can be done to improve services and look at all options, including light rail, if that would allow us to have a direct link from Ryde to Newport,” said council leader Dave Stewart.

“Everyone recognises there are many hurdles to overcome, and we need feasibility studies and consultation. However, that does not mean we should not be ambitious. The mood music at the moment is good.”

The council asked the island’s Conservative MP Bob Seely to speak to Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling, to ask for the funding of a feasibility study into possible extension of services to Newport (where the council is based) and to Ventnor (on the south coast). Ventnor was reached by a tunnel from Shanklin that was closed in 1966, and the land at the southern portal where the station once stood was redeveloped as an industrial estate.

On January 30, during a House of Commons debate on HS2, Seely told the House: “I will write [to Grayling] about the needs of my constituents for better public transport, especially since we get precious little infrastructure money. I will ask about the programme of reopening branch lines and investing in the Island Line.”

SWR consulted on the line’s future last autumn, and is due to submit a costed plan to the Department for Transport by the end of May. The consultation considered seven options:

Self-propelled flywheel trains such as the Parry People Mover.

New or re-engineered diesel trains.

New or re-engineered battery trains. New bespoke trains. Self-powered tram-train hybrid. Light rail with overhead power lines. Guided busway. SWR expressed a preference for a self-powered train, to avoid the expense of replacing existing equipment. Island Line has consistently required the highest subsidy per passenger of any part of the network, with more than £1 from the taxpayer for every £1 received in fares.

Former council leader David Pugh, of the Keep Island Line in Franchise (KILF) pressure group, said: “All sensible supporters of Island Line must support a conventional heavy rail solution for the route, given that the possibility still exists to transfer Island Line to an alternative operator. If light rail enthusiasts ever got their way, the prospect of being transferred to a replacement operator is much greater.”

Unlike the rest of the national rail network, Island Line is vertically integrated. The operator leases the infrastructure above the trackbed from Network Rail. That lease ends in March 2019.

Isle of Wight Council previously backed a 2016 study by former GNER chief Christopher Garnett, which concluded that the line needed at least £3 million a year operating subsidy. The study also found that suitable replacement London Underground trains capable of fitting through the small Ryde tunnel would not become available before 2027. This stock would then be more than 40 years old, expensive to convert, and heavy on the track.

Instead, Garnett favoured a single-line tram operation with passing loops, simplified line-ofsight signalling to reduce costs, with a 15-minute frequency that would double the existing service. He concluded this would enable the Isle of Wight Steam Railway to take over the released section of double track between Smallbrook Junction and Ryde St Johns Road, using the station’s western platform. This would bring direct economic and tourism benefits, he said.