From
the Island EchoThe Isle of Wight Steam Railway has confirmed that it has pulled out of plans to run historic locomotives to Ryde St John’s train station, with regulatory concerns and costs making the project unsustainable.
In a statement issued today (Wednesday), which comes days after a major announcement for Island Line, it has been revealed that the Steam Railway withdrew from discussions with South Western Railway some time ago.
The rail franchisee’s vision for the Island Line operation is said to be ‘significantly different’ from that of the previous franchisee, South West Trains and although the heritage attraction’s ambition remains to return steam hauled trains to Ryde at some point in the future, it is unlikely to be within the term of the current South Western Railway franchise – which runs until 2024.
Posting a new thread ... but (mods) please merge if you feel appropriate. Couldn't find a specific thread on the railway from Haven Street to Wootton ... and also to Smallbrook Junction (dropping keywords like mad to I CAN find the thread again later
).
News comes at the same time that
SWR» has reduced the service to an hourly train due to extra safety checks on the old underground fleet and the difficult of getting spares, citing increasingly tight standards. I don't know, but I do wonder if the standards applied to trains running from Ryde Pierhead to Shanklin are the same as those applied to trains running from - say - Reading to Basingstoke, and whether that's a sensible and prudent thing to do, or somewhat over the top.
