Island Line services, Isle of Wight. General discussion

[whole diary]

[Ralph Ayres]

Hmm. I would have thought the old sawtooth(?) arrangement coped better with a larger number of buses and made it far easier to get close to the kerb so I'm surprised they've changed it. Reversing off the stand perhaps isn't ideal but fine if public access to the roadway behind is avoided by good design of pedestrian routes.

The 2018 photo was presumably taken from the footbridge to the hovercraft terminal. I hope the different viewpoint doesn't mean it's no longer there; I have many happy memories of watching the rather more impressive (ie noisier) SRN6 arriving and leaving in my yoof.

Time for a trip to the IoW now the pier, bus station and railway upgrade work has finished, though I still here of occasional problems with the new trains.

[JayMac]

The footbridge to the Hovertravel terminal is definitely still there. The hovercraft was how I got on and off the island when I joined bobm there for a few days.

[paul7575]

The Esplanade Hotel webcam periodically focuses on the bus stands, so it’s possible to see how the new road layout works, you can also scroll back up to 12 hours earlier:

https://www.youtube.com/live/R1P9v9bEtuk?feature=share

[bobm]

I hope the different viewpoint doesn't mean it's no longer there; I have many happy memories of watching the rather more impressive (ie noisier) SRN6 arriving and leaving in my yoof.

Time for a trip to the IoW now the pier, bus station and railway upgrade work has finished, though I still here of occasional problems with the new trains.

As mentioned the footbridge is still there - my ability to climb it has diminished over the intervening period however.

The catamaran runs hourly on weekdays departing at XX:45.  Alternate Island Line services serve the pier head arriving at XX:39.  I was aware while I was on the island that it either arrived late and the passengers had an hour's wait for the next or, as on my arrival, the catamaran is slightly late and you arrive on the platform to see the train halfway down the pier.

It is not so bad at weekends when the crossings are half hourly.

[CyclingSid]

rather more impressive (ie noisier) SRN6

which I think you can now find one at the Hovercraft Museum at Lee-on-the-Solent https://www.hovercraft-museum.org/collections/, on the site of what was HMS Daedalus. Mention of the Interservice Hovercraft Trials Unit, reminds of when I was a youngster living on Hayling Island and they used to use the area in Chichester Harbour just south of Thorney Island.

[grahame]

From the Isle of Wight Observer

5 trains have become 4 – and SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) are buying wheels from a scrapyard!

The much-vaunted ‘new’ Class 484 Island Line trains, which only entered service in November 2021 promising a fresh start, find themselves on an unexpected track. They now face the ignominy of running on wheels bought by South Western Railway (SWR) from “a scrap metal merchant” after a senior official from the Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) told the railway company that “Minimising expenditure must be the focus … I’d not want us to be spending any more than is absolutely necessary.”

The disclosure comes from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by the IW Observer.

[snip]

Whispers that one of the 484s has already been decommissioned, also for spares, appear to be confirmed. Five new trains were delivered in 2021, costing £11 million, part of an optimistically described £26 million ‘investment’. However, in January, SWT^▸ (South West Trains) gave the DfT an update on only four, describing “3 units out of service, 2 of which are currently subject to brake testing. Unfortunately, this leaves only 1 unit in service for the entire Island Line.”

[Fourbee]

According to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) there were 0 operational trains at one point yesterday:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-69026642

Looking at the departure boards this morning (Sunday 19/05/24) services are running so the train must have been resuscitated sufficiently.

[RichardLong]

Hope it’s OK to share this here?  My new book about the Island Line upgrade has just been published and is available to order from Pen & Sword: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Upgrading-the-Isle-of-Wights-Railway-Hardback/p/51054

Should be available from other suppliers soon.

[Chris from Nailsea]

That's fine with us, RichardLong.

It fits within our Coffee Shop forum's definition of limiting 'advertising'.

Good luck with your latest publication!

CfN 

[bobm]

Some nice photos in the article of the old St Helen's station which you cannot see from the road.

https://www.countypress.co.uk/news/24545580.former-isle-wight-train-station-st-helens-sale-1-5-million/

A former Isle of Wight train station turned family home is on the market for £1.5 million, marketed through Spence Willard.

For more than seven decades, St Helens Station played an important role on the Island railway line.

Both freight and passengers passed through the station up until 1953 when the Bembridge line was closed.