Isle of Wight railways
Written by Roger Young
Updated 7th March 2023
Background
Location Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
First line opened 1862
Last major update 1996
Open lines 2
Open stations 11
The Isle of Wight (IOW) is the largest island in England and the 2nd most populated. The first railways to open on the IOW were the Cowes & Newport line which opened on 16th June 1862 and the Ryde St. Johns Road to Shanklin line which opened on 23rd August 1864. The network then developed over the following 36 years linking the IOW's various towns and villages.
Isle of Wight Central Railway
Line colour Red
Opened 1862
Transferred to Southern Railway 1923
Stations 22
The Cowes & Newport line opened on 16th June 1862 linking the seaside town of Cowes with the capital, Newport.
On 1st February 1875 the Newport Junction line opened via Merstone, linking Newport with the seaside town of Sandown, which was already served by the Isle of Wight Railway (IWR). Initially trains stopped just outside Newport at Pan Lane, it was not until 1st June 1879 that the line reached Newport to connect with the other IWCR owned lines.
On 20th December 1875 the Ryde & Newport line opened via Haven Street, linking Newport with another seaside town, Ryde, which was also already served by the IWR.
On 12th July 1880 the Ryde & Newport line was extended from Ryde (renamed Ryde St. Jonh's Road) to Ryde Pierhead, jointly run by the IWR. This allowed connections with ferries on the pier.
The Isle of Wight Central Railway (IWCR) was formed in 1887 with the merging of the former Cowes & Newport and Ryde & Newport lines. The company then gained running rights over the Newport Junction line.
The Newport, Godshill and St. Lawrence Railway Company constructed a branch from Merstone to St. Lawrence on the southern coast of the Island, opening on 20th July 1897. three years later on 1st June 1900 the line was extended from St. Lawrence to Ventnor Town, which was also served by the IWR, although the stations were a long way apart. Trains on this line were run by the IWCR.
Gallery
Ventnor West station c. 1950s. Photo by John L. Smith10/10
Cowes station in 1964. Photo by Doug Cady1/10
Cowes station from the road in 1968. Photo from 53A Models of Hull Collection2/10
Newport station on 19th February 1966, two days before closure. Photo by Robert Bridger3/10
Whippingham station c. early 1950s. Photo from John Mann collection4/10
Wootton station in June 1950. Photo by A. R. Sedgwick5/10
Blackwater station c. 1950s6/10
Merstone station c. 1950s. Photo by John L. Smith7/10
Horringford station in the early 20th century. Photo from John Mann collection8/10
Godshill station c. 1950s. Photo by John L. Smith9/10- Ventnor West station c. 1950s. Photo by John L. Smith10/10
- Cowes station in 1964. Photo by Doug Cady1/10
Isle of Wight Railway
Line colour Dark blue
Opened 1864
Transferred to Southern Railway 1923
Stations 10
The Isle of Wight Railway (IWR) opened it's first line between the seaside towns of Ryde and Shanklin on 23rd August 1864. This was quickly extended from Shanklin to the seaside town of Ventnor on 15th September 1866.
On 12th July 1880 the line was again extended, this time from Ryde (renamed Ryde St. Jonh's Road) to Ryde Pierhead, jointly run by the IWCR. This allowed connections with ferries on the pier.
A branch from Brading to Bembridge was built by the Brading Harbour and Railway Company and opened to passengers on 27th May 1882. The IWR operated the trains and eventually took over the company in 1898.
Gallery
Bembridge station in July 19534/4
Ventnor station c. 1965. Photo by Bill Rawlindon1/4
Wroxall station in June 19612/4
St. Helens station c. 19533/4- Bembridge station in July 19534/4
- Ventnor station c. 1965. Photo by Bill Rawlindon1/4
Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway
Line colour Pink
Opened 1889
Transferred to Southern Railway 1923
Stations 7
The Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway (FYNR) opened on 10th September 1888 for goods traffic and 19th July 1889 for passengers. This linked Newport with 2 key towns on the west of the Island, although they were still quite small in the 19th century.
Initially the trains ran into the station in Newport shared with IWCR but disputes between the companies led to the FYNR constructing their own separate terminus in 1913.
Gallery
Carisbrooke station in 1953. Photo by J. L. Smith4/4
Freshwater station in September 1953. Photo by J. H. Aston1/4
Yarmouth station in 1953. Photo by J. L. Smith2/4
Calbourne & Shalfleet station. Photo by J. H. Aston3/4- Carisbrooke station in 1953. Photo by J. L. Smith4/4
- Freshwater station in September 1953. Photo by J. H. Aston1/4
Southern Railway
Line colour Green
Takeover 1923
Transferred to British Rail 1948
Stations 35
At the beginning of the 20th century it became harder for the lines on the IOW to make a profit. This was further hampered by the outbreak of the First World War, which affected all train companies and lines across the UK. After the war the government put in place compulsory amalgamation for the numerous railway companies in the UK, which resulted in all the Island lines being grouped under the Southern Railway company in 1923. However, even with this change things did not improve much for the Island's railways.
British Rail
Line colour Black
Takeover 1948
Transferred to Island Line 1996
Stations 35
Things did not improve locally or nationally regarding the railways, so on 1st January 1948 British Railway was created. This took ownership of all railway companies in the UK. In order to try and get the railways making some money, many loss making lines were closed, including all but 1 line on the IOW.
On 15th September 1952 the Merstone to Ventnor West line was closed. This was followed by the Newport to Freshwater and Brading to Bembridge lines a year later on 21st September 1953. The Newport to Sandown line was closed on 6th February 1956. The Cowes to Ryde St. John's Road line was closed 10 years later on 21st February 1966. This just left 1 line. Part of this line, between Ventnor and Shanklin, was closed on 18th April 1966.
This left just the Shanklin to Ryde Pierhead line in operation. This was also temporarily closed on 1st January 1967, but this was to allow for electrification. The line reopened on 20th March 1967 using class 483 1938 tube stock from the London Underground.
Locomotives
At the time of nationalisation there were 3 classes of tank engines present on the Island. These were class 02 0-4-4Ts named after towns on the Island, class A1X “Terrier” 0-6-0Ts and class E1 0-6-0Ts for freight traffic. They were all withdrawn once the last line was converted to electric, although a handful survive on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
Isle of Wight Steam Railway
Line colour Mint
Opened 1986
Stations 4
The line from Havenstreet to Wootton was acquired by the Wight Locomotive Society (later the Isle of Wight Railway Company) on 27th January 1971. This was run as a heritage line, with services running between Wootton and Havenstreet by August 1986.
On 20th July 1991 the line was extended to a new station at Smallbrook Junction which connected with the Island Line just outside Ryde.
There are a number of conversation projects under way at the moment, which include the following:
- LCDR Carriage project restoring London, Chatham and Dover Railway bogie carriages. These are of the type transferred to the Island in the early 1930s by the Southern Railway.
- Recreating an 1864 train. The Oldbury Carriage Project recreating the coaches as used for the opening of the Ryde to Shanklin line in 1864.
- Wootton Edwardian Station. Recreating an Isle of Wight Central Railway station as it might have appeared in the Edwardian era.
Gallery
Havenstreet station. Photo by Arriva4363/3
Class A1X W11 train 'Newport'. Photo by Peter Skuce1/3
Class 0-4-4T W24 train 'Calbourne'. Photo by Peter Skuce2/3- Havenstreet station. Photo by Arriva4363/3
- Class A1X W11 train 'Newport'. Photo by Peter Skuce1/3
Island Line
Line colour Light blue
Takeover 1996
Stations 8
In 1996 British Rail was privatised. The right to run trains and maintain the line between Shanklin and Ryde Pierhead were passed to the Stagecoach Group. They rebranded the line as the Island Line which still runs trains on the same route till this day. The main franchise group that runs the Island Line is now South Western Railway.
The Island Line has been upgraded in recent years as part of the South Western Railway’s project "Journey to Better". The upgrade has seen the old trains consisting of 1938 class 483 units replaced with the new class 484 fleet. These trains, former London Underground District Line stock, have been transformed with upgraded interiors, plug sockets, wheelchair spaces and free WiFi.
To facilitate these new trains the tunnel between Ryde St. John's Road and Ryde Esplanade was made deeper, and an extra passing loop added outside Brading station to allow more trains to run on the line (for the most part the Island Line is single track). In addition, the general infrastructure has been improved with upgraded tracks for a smoother ride and raised platforms to improve accessibility.
Gallery
Class 483 and 484 trains at Ryde depot in 2020. Photo by James123pilbeam4/4
Class 484 train at Shanklin station in 2022. Photo by Peter Skuce1/4
Class 483 train at Ryde Esplanade station in 2003. Photo by GertGrer2/4
Class 483 train between Ryde and Brading in 2017. Photo by Mypix3/4- Class 483 and 484 trains at Ryde depot in 2020. Photo by James123pilbeam4/4
- Class 484 train at Shanklin station in 2022. Photo by Peter Skuce1/4
Future
There are a number of schemes being discussed to improve the railways on the IOW.
Rebuilding Ryde Pier
As of 2023 Ryde Pier is being substantially rebuilt due to the current pier rotting away. Ryde Pierhead station was temporarily closed at the start of 2023 to allow for these works to be completed. These should be completed by the end of Spring 2023. There is also a plan to rebuild Ryde Esplanade station, which has been given the go ahead and will likely be started in 2023.
Extension back to Newport
This is currently being actively looked into by the council and would likely take the old route between Sandown and Newport via Merstone. Most of the track bed is still intact, with the main issue where to put a new station in Newport, as the area for the old station and the route through the town to it has been heavily redeveloped.
Extension back to Ventnor
Another extension being looked into is connecting Shankin with Ventnor again. As with the route to Newport, the track bed is intact, the main issue here is that the tunnel at Ventnor is now being used for other businesses.
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Please note the map is for display purposes only. This should only be used as a guide on how the network has changed over time and not as a travel tool. Please see each networks's official website for an up-to-date map for travelling around that city.
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