March 1967 saw the introduction of ex-Underground stock on the Island line between Ryde and Shanklin. Fifty years on, with the new South West Trains franchise award imminent, this is set to be a critical year for the line’s future
Travelling on the Isle of Wight’s 8½-mile route between Ryde and Shanklin is like stepping back in time. This remnant of a 55-mile network of lines which criss-crossed the island is now the domain of ex-tube stock built in 1938.
British Rail’s steam-hauled services ceased to operate at the end of 1966, although the Isle of Wight Steam Railway ensures that steam lives on to this day.
Instead, British Rail took the decision to electrify this short stretch at 660V DC third rail, while the track in the tunnel between Ryde Esplanade and Ryde St John’s Road, which frequently flooded, was raised, limiting the loading gauge and the size of trains which could be operated and necessitating the use of ex-London Underground stock.
Fifty years on, rationalisation of the island’s rail infrastructure has left a single-track line, and trains now pass at Ryde St John’s Road and Sandown, constraining the service to operating at uneven 20/40-minute intervals. The current Class 483s, now resplen…
