Ambitious plan to extend Island Line

AN extension to the Island Line from Sandown to Newport is being proposed under the Department for Transport’s ‘Restoring Your Railway’ programme.

With costs estimated at £67m, the proposal has the backing of the Isle of Wight Council and local MP Bob Seely and would reinstate the former Isle of Wight Central line which closed on

February 6, 1956.

Much of the trackbed remains intact, footpaths and cycleways would be retained on a shared layout, and a new junction south of Sandown station would be constructed.

A previous plan proposed using the heritage Isle of Wight Steam Railway route from Smallbroook Junction to Newport has been discounted on cost and feasibility grounds.