Isle of Wight

Public transport on the Isle of Wight has always had a very distinctive character, non more so than its railways. Despite the small resident population, a dense network of railways was built by several different companies in the 19th century reaching into all four corners of this diamond-shaped island. At the peak this network varied between a busy (at least in summer times) quasi-main line from Ryde to Ventnor to a sparsely served, cheaply constucted rural line stretching from Newport to Freshwater.

Gradually and inevitably, as road competition increased the network shrank – beginning with closure of the line to Ventnor West in September 1952. From 1966 only the stretch of the former Isle of Wight Railway between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin has remained as part of the national network. Since 1967 that stretch has been operated with secondhand London Transport tube trains – initially using units built in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Later this was replaced with 1938 LT Standard Stock. These are the oldest trains regularly operating on the national network and are due to be withdrawn at the end of 2020 – to be replaced by yet another fleet of secondhand London Transport trains, this time re-engineered from former District Line sub-surface D78 stock.

Brief histories and more details of the island’s railways can be found using these links to the Disused Stations and Wikipedia websites.

Shanklin station c.1960

Sandown station c.1960

Sandown station c.1960

Brading station c.1960

Havenstreet station c.1960

Ryde Esplanade c.1960

Ryde Esplanade c.1960

Newport station c.1960

1931 tube trains at Ryde Pier Head

1931 Tube Trains at Ryde Pier Head

1923 & 1931 tube stock on Ryde Pier

Ryde St Johns Road

1925 & 1931 tube stock at Ryde St Johns Road

1925 tube stock doors at St Johns Road

1931 tube stock motor car

1923 trailer

1923 trailer with added luggage racks

1925 control trailer

Ryde St Johns Road & depot

Ryde St Johns Road Signal Box

Ryde St Johns Road signal box

Shanklin Station

IoW Steam Railway

IoW Steam Railway pre-WW1 carriages

IoW Steam Railway

Lymington Town station

Apart from the Class 483 units – former LT “1938” tube stock – receiving an internal refurbishment and a “Dinosaur” livery, not much had changed on the island in 2003. By December 2020 it was mostly failed and redundant units sitting outside the Ryde depot. The last working Class 483 unit failed in late November resulting in rail services having to be suspended.

Class 483 at Shanklin (2003)

Class 483 at Ryde St. Johns Road – 2020

Class 483 at Ryde St. Johns Road (2020)

First Class 484 in Ryde Depot (2020)

Lurking inside the depot was the first of the replacement Class 484 units – former LT District Line D78 stock. On 4th January 2021, after these photos were taken, the Island Line closed for engineering works to enable these “new” Class 484 units to take over the service. More information is on the South Western Railway Island Line website.

Travel to and from the island means a ferry crossing. From the 19th Century until the 1980s crossings from Portsmouth and Lymington were controlled by the railways, initially using paddle steamers and later motor ships. In 1984 British Rail’s Sealink subsidiary was privatised and later became branded as Wightlink. Wightlink currently operates the traditional railway routes of:

Portsmouth Harbour – Ryde Pier Head (passenger only)
Portsmouth Gunwharf Quay – Fishbourne (car ferry)
Lymington Pier – Yarmouth (car ferry)

The ferry service between Cowes and Southampton predates the coming of the railways and has never fallen into railway hands. Although its origins can be traced to 1820, The Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited was formally incorporated in 1861 and for much of the time since has traded under the more manageable name of Red Funnel. Currently it operates:

Southampton Royal Pier – Cowes Town Quay (passenger only)
Southampton Royal Pier – East Cowes Terminal (car ferry)

In July 1965 Hovertravel Ltd. began a hovercraft service from Ryde to both Southsea and Stokes Bay, Gosport using SR.N6 craft. The following July British Rail’s Seaspeed subsidiary began a service, also using SR.N6 hovercraft, between Cowes and Southampton. Following the start of competitive services by Seaspeed from Portsmouth to both Ryde & Cowes, Hovertravel concentrated its operations at Southsea. In 1976 Seaspeed decided to concentrate on Cross-Channel services and transferred its Solent operations to Hovertravel. In 1980 Hovertravel discontinued all operations from Cowes, leaving just one hovercraft route still operating:

Southsea Clarence Pier – Ryde Hoverport (passenger only)

These photos give a flavout of some of the vessels and craft used on crossings to the island. More information about the ferries can be found on the Wightlink, Red Funnel and Hovertravel websites or about Seaspeed on Wikipedia.