How about an Isle of Wight rail tunnel?

Reading about the proposed reopening of the Fawley branch ( RAIL 920), and separately about feasibility studies for a £3 billion Isle of Wight road tunnel, I couldn’t help wondering if they could be combined into one.

Why not extend the Fawley line under the narrowest part of the Solent at Stansore Point, and up to a railhead between Cowes and Newport?

Or even extend across the Medina to join the original Newport to Ryde track bed, already partly restored by the Isle of Wight Steam Railway?

Admittedly not the quickest route from Portsmouth to Ryde, but surely a lot cheaper?

Tom Lloyd, Amble

I cannot understand why the new trains for the Isle of Wight do not have some three-car units.

I assume they will operate as 2x2-coach units. But in the summer, the trains are packed, and five-coach trains would be beneficial. Three-car trains would also be useful in the winter months.

Peter Armand, Reading

Great article on the first new Class 484 arriving on the Isle of Wight ( RAIL 919).

It is also really good news that the two operational Class 483 units are going to be preserved on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and the Epping Ongar Railway.

What about 483007, which has been undergoing a major C4 overhaul for the past three years and which must be very near completion?

That must also be a preservation candidate - it is reported to be in very good condition, not having been used in service for three years, and has been kept inside the depot building.

I would agree that the other three Class 483 units (483002/004/ 009) are probably beyond economic repair, although I believe that 483009 is still capable of being moved, as it has been used as the depot shunting unit for a few years.

When I was on the Isle of Wight in early September, there was a rumour that one Class 483 unit might also be displayed in the former Bembridge bay platform at

Brading, to complement the superbly restored signal box and the period feel of the station, especially after the passing loop is reinstated and the island platform restored to use.

There are going to be quite a few surplus track panels available to lay alongside the Bembridge bay platform, when track is relaid early next year.

Paul Raven-Hill, Middlesex