hermit
Member
The island is remarkably busy at the moment, but we will never know whether it might have been even busier, especially with day trippers, if the train service had been running. The faff factor involved in getting off the pier at present may have put people off, and will certainly not have impressed those who’ve experienced it.How can anyone possibly tell, this year of all years? Most visitors, especially those staying multiple nights, visit by car or coach so it would be hard to see a visible difference even in a normal year which this most certainly isn't. If this makes Island Line irrelevant then you could say the same of almost the entire rail network outside urban areas and the long distance mainlines.
What can be said with reasonable confidence is that the Rail Replacement Buses are carrying a fraction of the normal rail traffic this time of year - some may be using Southern Vectis but daytrips to Sandown Bay via the Catamaran probably aren't worth the bother right now, it's certainly put me off going the other way this summer.
As for why the rail replacement bus is lightly used, I‘ve suggested elsewhere that for local journeys people will probably have migrated to Southern Vectis’ routes 2 and 3, which are frequent and generally serve more convenient stops than the RRB. And for a high proportion of passengers journeys are free. But I think the time advantage of the train will draw them back when it starts running.
For those travelling to the mainland, the RRB carries the worry that, if it gets delayed in traffic (which is particularly heavy at present) they may miss the ferry, with a consequential wait of 1-2 hours. I am sure there are plenty of people like me who would normally use Island Line, who choose to minimise that risk by gritting their teeth and parking on the seafront or (gritting their teeth even more) parking at Pierhead. We will go back to the train when we can.
And there are certainly people, particularly from the Shanklin end of the line, who have reduced their trips to the mainland as being simply too much hassle at the moment.