Island Line Railway - current state and the future

Rick1984 · 5 Jan 2018

Here's a link to picture of logo/name. Love the person saying is it supposed to be visible from Portsmouth Harbour? Even bigger than I remembered

Lockwood said:
A stupidly big link to the stupidly big logo (Daniel Wright's photo)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/danie...ZX-EqSf8g-EgfgpR-ZxAMtG-2285ke1-D5Arnq-C4qFVQ

RailUK Forums

Xenophon PCDGS · 5 Jan 2018

Noting the side panel logo in discussion, I ask if the Island Line supposed to be a mode of transport for the 21st century which competes against the mode of travel offered by Southern Vectis or a "heritage" railway?

Rick1984 · 5 Jan 2018

The logo hardly makes it scream 21st century!

mark_47769 · 5 Jan 2018

For anyone interested 483004/483006 have been the two units in use so far this week with 483008 doing a journey today

Rick1984 · 5 Jan 2018

I saw a lot of 006 be used last month. Makes sense of course. Haven't seen 007 in a long time.

Xenophon PCDGS · 6 Jan 2018

Rick1984 said:
The logo hardly makes it scream 21st century!

But there again, it looks far more modern that the lettering used in the period that some heritage railways seek to emulate.

Rick1984 · 6 Jan 2018

One thing I noticed is that the Penny Feathers development in Ryde doesn't include a new platform at Smallbrook, basically forcing people to drive or take bus into town.

Surely a massive oversight as the development is already going to put a massive strain on a road network that can't cope.

Bletchleyite · 6 Jan 2018

That seems short sighted, having a station there people can't use!

pompeyfan · 6 Jan 2018

I’d assume they’d need a new platform on the other side of the line, which would then have to conform to various regulations such as signal sighting, curvature, PTI, height, disabled access etc

Jamesrob637 · 6 Jan 2018

When Portillo went on these last year, they were definitely looking a little shabby. In contrast to the steam train he took after, which was immaculate!

Rick1984 · 6 Jan 2018

pompeyfan said:
I’d assume they’d need a new platform on the other side of the line, which would then have to conform to various regulations such as signal sighting, curvature, PTI, height, disabled access etc

That may be but this unnecessary development will only add more traffic to a road network that can't cope. Part of the agreement of allowing this to go ahead should be forcing the developers to pay for all that

BestWestern · 6 Jan 2018

Rick1984 said:
That may be but this unnecessary development will only add more traffic to a road network that can't cope. Part of the agreement of allowing this to go ahead should be forcing the developers to pay for all that

Absolutely. A potential significant boost to a struggling line missed. Very sloppy indeed from the local authority.

Chris125 · 6 Jan 2018

Rick1984 said:
One thing I noticed is that the Penny Feathers development in Ryde doesn't include a new platform at Smallbrook, basically forcing people to drive or take bus into town.

Surely a massive oversight as the development is already going to put a massive strain on a road network that can't cope.

Upgrading the station with public access, park & ride etc did feature in initial plans but was later dropped, perhaps it was more work than they expected - I can't recall any interest being expressed by Network Rail or SWT and the Steam Railway were opposed IIRC.

Rick1984 · 6 Jan 2018

Interesting. Big mistake. They didn't really need to make it P&R. Just foot access to the development. Why would the Steam railway object?

Dore & Totley · 6 Jan 2018

Slightly off topic but relate to Island Line. Used to visit as a kid in the late 70s and 80s. Can anyone confirm but I am sure when you got to Ryde Pier Head there was a choice of two trains. One was a through train to Shanklin and the other I am sure was a shuttle to the Esplanade and back or am I mistaken?

Leo1961 · 6 Jan 2018

Not sure if it still ran during the period you quote, but that was certainly the case during the late 60's and early 70's when I visited as a child 8-)

Rick1984 · 6 Jan 2018

I was thinking about that the other day while standing on Esplenade station. Why was there a shuttle? Obviously the Island was busier but was there that much demand?

Dore & Totley · 6 Jan 2018

If my memory serves it was for passengers who were going to parts of the island not served by the railway to quickly connect with the buses at Esplanade

Chris125 · 6 Jan 2018

Rick1984 said:
Interesting. Big mistake. They didn't really need to make it P&R. Just foot access to the development. Why would the Steam railway object?

https://www.iwight.com/Meetings/committees/Planning Committee from 2013/8-9-15/Paper B.pdf

Isle of Wight Steam Railway object to the application and summarise their concerns as follows:

- Effect and influence on the existing rural station of the proposed development
- The possible effects on the housing from existing, unrestricted operations (including smoke, steam, soot and general noise)
- The possibility of damage caused by flood waters to the existing embankment should the proposed water attenuation measures not be adequate (or fail)
- The direction and impact of water run-off from the new playing fields and the impact which this could have in the railway’s infrastructure
- Increased likelihood of trespass and vandalism

Rick1984 · 6 Jan 2018

Cheers

Rick1984 · 6 Jan 2018

Dore & Totley said:
If my memory serves it was for passengers who were going to parts of the island not served by the railway to quickly connect with the buses at Esplanade

Ah so the Shanklin trains might not necessarily have linked with the ferries, so catch the shuttle instead. Makes sense

DenmarkRail · 7 Jan 2018

My analysis of island line is that right now, more people are going abroad, or taking cars to the island.

Post brexit it’ll become more of a hassle to go abroad, so people will go back to domestic holidays and then the isle of wight railway will become more needed

Rick1984 · 7 Jan 2018

I was thinking you'd just build another platform at Smallbrook on the East side and open doors on both sides. But thinking about it, with there being no access from the current platforms that would be a logistical nightmare with people being stranded etc.

aylesbury · 7 Jan 2018

When I travel from Lymington to the island in the summer the ferries are always full only the evening sailings are not so full. By the way this is the best crossing to the island.

Newport, Cowes and Ryde are always busy with the buses pretty busy so I think that many more people are travelling to the island which is good as long as they keep West Wight as unspoilt as it is now.

Stroud Valleys · 8 Jan 2018

Surely Smallbrook Junction is a significant oversight by the local council. If they really are serious about helping the locals create a sustainable railway, any sources of income would be gratefully received.

I've always thought that the easiest solution at Smallbrook Junction would be to close the existing station and relocate closer to the road/bridge to save having to build another footbridge, with lots of footbath links to the new development and the nearby stadium. It would also be a useful park and ride location for those wanting to get to the foot ferry in ryde to save having to drive to st johns.

However this assumes the steam railway gets access to st johns which i can't see as a major problem.

Similarly i like the idea of extending the railway to a new marina station in the north of newport which longer term could also be a useful base for a short shute railway between newport and cowes.

This is a big if, but if Shanklin/Sandown was reconnected with Newport, much of the original track bed is in place until crucially Newport. How practical is it to build.the railway along the river bank so as to get to the north side near the new proposed station?

341o2 · 8 Jan 2018

Rick1984 said:
I was thinking about that the other day while standing on Esplenade station. Why was there a shuttle? Obviously the Island was busier but was there that much demand?

Indeed there was, the Pier used to have its own tramway, seperate from the Island line, which was closed and a shuttle between Pier Head & Esplanade replaced it. In those days, motor vehicles did not have access, so you either took the train/tram or walked

essexjohn · 8 Jan 2018

In the 60s the ferries were so busy on Summer Saturdays that people taking the shuttle from Esplanade alighted at Pier Head and then had to walk half way back down the pier to reach the end of the queue!

HSTEd · 8 Jan 2018

Rick1984 said:
I was thinking you'd just build another platform at Smallbrook on the East side and open doors on both sides. But thinking about it, with there being no access from the current platforms that would be a logistical nightmare with people being stranded etc.

Doesn't the really low clearance required by the Island Line - no need to provide 25kV clearances and with tube trains the loading gauge is tiny - really drastically reduce the cost of a footbridge?
It is not as if it would require the collosal ramps that typify main line installations.

Rick1984 · 8 Jan 2018

Stroud Valleys said:
How practical is it to build.the railway along the river bank so as to get to the north side near the new proposed station?

It would be fairly major undertaking. Probably not impossible but not likely. Shide is about as close as you can get. Not to mention losing the cycle path

Indeed there was, the Pier used to have its own tramway, seperate from the Island line, which was closed and a shuttle between Pier Head & Esplanade replaced it. In those days, motor vehicles did not have access, so you either took the train/tram or walked

Interesting. So shuttle replaced team and didn't know about no traffic on peir so that all mashe sense

341o2 · 8 Jan 2018

The Ryde Pier tramway was a delight in that the trams were petrol driven , and in the final years diesel, and the driver was in the shore end.Transport of the masses was more important than comfort. The driver would reverse the tram up the pier, using a crude marker system and rear view mirror. Misjudgements concerning stopping were not unknown, a 1968 inspection found the tramway unsafe and it closed in 1969.

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