Absolutely. There was genuine surprise when it was announced that the Ryde to Shanklin section was to be retained, because it really only carried significant numbers during the summer, and Beeching had argued that it wasn't in BR's interest to retain seasonal services with stock lying idle most of the time. Back in the sixties, when first electrified, the line needed no less than six seven-car trains to run peak summer services, and even then struggled to make any money. You can tell a lot about the Isle of Wight's fortunes that they now run the service with one two-car unit most of the time - the tourist traffic has pretty much entirely disappeared.
The line has only survived because it's now so politically unacceptable to close railways, but there isn't really a good case for it, besides the fact that it's quicker than the bus. It's had next to no money spent on it for fifty years, and even then most of the infrastructure was ancient and falling to pieces. Every time something has failed, it's either been removed or replaced by something cannibalised from elsewhere, and there's only so many times you can keep doing that. For the last twenty years or so, I'm sure the whole setup has only been one or two major failures away from becoming completely inoperable without a lot of money being spent on it.