Plans to turn former Island Line train into cafe and museum

Two former London Underground carriages that ran on the Isle of Wight could be turned into a cafe and museum.

The carriages, built in 1938, were replaced by refurbished

Class 484 Vivarail trains last year. Island retailer Holliers Park has now submitted a planning application to convert them for its site at Branstone.

The vehicles, forming 483004, are sitting on a short section of track and have been stripped of their external paint. They would be restored to their original London Transport red.

Holliers states it would create a 24-seat cafe with a small museum. Internal features such as brass plates would be retained as far as possible.

The application claims: “This scheme represents an interesting and unique opportunity to re-use these decommissioned Island Line train cars, retaining their historic interest for members of the public.”

The old LU trains ran on the island from 1989 and were withdrawn on January 4 2021, when Island Line closed for a planned three-month £26 million upgrade.

Services did not resume for ten months, as work to both trains and track ran into a succession of problems. Five trains were ordered from Vivarail, with the last one delivered to the island by Wightlink ferry in February this year.

One train (483007) moved to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. Two sets (483006 and 483008) have gone to the London Transport Traction Group, with the ambition of converting one to battery power and running it on the Epping Ongar Railway, once the eastern end of London Underground’s Central Line. The trains are currently at the Llanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway in south Wales. 483004 pauses between duties at Ryde St Johns Road on October 23 2019. The trainset was withdrawn in January 2021, but could now have a future on the Isle of Wight as a cafe and museum.