Island Line services, Isle of Wight. General discussion

[whole diary]

[RichT54]

South Western Railway has announced that two trains per hour will start running on the Island Line during peak periods from Monday, 20 December.

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/other/news-and-media/news/2021/december/swr-announces-two-island-line-trains-per-hour-during-peak-periods

• Two trains per hour will begin running during peak periods from Monday, South Western Railway (SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)) has said.
• The new services are designed to cater to commuters – once restrictions are lifted - and school children.
• The uplift is a step towards two trains per hour throughout the day.

[paul7575]

The last unit, 484005, was taken over to the island today.

[bobm]

Apparently the last of the old 483s is due to leave the island tomorrow. 

[MVR S&T]

 Alterations to services between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin
Due to a member of traincrew being unavailable between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin fewer trains are able to run.
What's Going On:
Train services running to and from these stations will be reduced. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 18/02/22.
What We're Doing About It:
We have been informed that a member of train crew is unavailable, as a result the Island Line will be reduced to an hourly service.

[RichardB]

Great news today - the last of the new units has arrived on the Island

https://www.southwesternrailway.com/other/news-and-media/news/2022/february/out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new

[grahame]

From Island Echo

Island Line trains won’t be serving Ryde Pier Head for more than 7 months to facilitate a £17million critical repair project to the railway, it has been revealed.

It’s said that the platform superstructure at the end of Ryde Pier is coming towards the end of its operational life and requires renewal and refurbishment to allow it to continue to operate safely. If the works aren’t completed before December this year the line will be forced to close for safety reasons.

It is proposed that works will get underway at the end of June and will continue until at least mid-February, during which time the line needs to be closed north of Ryde Esplanade. It will include replacing the dilapidated weather screen that greets visitors to the Island.

[johnneyw]

I noticed that the abovementioned weather screen was looking rather in need of replacement when I was there last month, with some of it missing and the rest appearing very worn out weather beaten.  There were a number of people in Hi Vis and hard hats going about their business at the time and I did wonder what they were doing.  Looks like it was an inspection team.

[bobm]

Two of the old class 483s have been preserved on the Island.

One is at Train Story at the Isle of Wight Steam Railway's headquarters at Havenstreet,  A rolling video tells the story of the units' service on the Island.



The other is at the Chilli Farm near Sandown where there are plans to turn it into a restaurant.

[johnneyw]

There's an update in New Civil Engineer on the repairs to Ryde Pier which necessitates a winter closure of the service on the pier with a shuttle bus replacement between Pier Head and Esplanade.  More on this link:

https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/historic-isle-of-wight-pier-rail-route-to-undergo-major-repairs-28-10-2022/

[Clan Line]

"Network Rail Wessex route director Mark Killick said: “We’re pleased to finally start work on Ryde Pier, which after 142 years of service needs a lot of maintenance to support SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)’s Island Line services going forward."...........

................but not going backwards

[eightonedee]

I've just seen a piece on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) local news (South) by Paul Clifton. Apparently the Ryde Pier works are well behind schedule with Network Rail unwilling to give a new completion date. Presumably it will be repeated after the 10 o'clock news for those who missed it.

[CyclingSid]

Probably similar at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-64899656

[JayMac]

I'm currently on the Isle of Wight.

The rail and bus station frontage at Ryde Esplanade is an absolute mess at the moment.

[RichardB]

Here's a nice piece from Paul Clifton on tonight's BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) South Today about Beeching and the Isle of Wight.  From 12mins.  Only available until 18 57 tomorrow.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001klb4/south-today-evening-news-29032023

[bobm]

I'm currently on the Isle of Wight.

The rail and bus station frontage at Ryde Esplanade is an absolute mess at the moment.

Pleased to say the work is now largely complete and the situation is a lot better

2018



2023



The stops have now been arranged so buses can simply pull away and not need to reverse.  The most frequent service - the 9 to Newport - now leaves from a layby adjacent to the main road.   Those buses which formerly had to run to the roundabout by the Castle and double back can now access George Street directly via a filter lane.

A new railway ticket office has also been constructed.   If the currently proposals go ahead it may have a short life.