Replacement trains and improved infrastructure are coming to the Isle of Wight’s railway, as PHILIP SHERRATT reports
The 8½-mile Island line between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight is one of the most characterful parts of the network. Indeed, the combination of eighty-year old ex-tube trains and a somewhat ageing infrastructure more than merits the descriptor unique.
The phrase ‘once in a generation’ is perhaps overused on the railway, but the upgrade being delivered by South Western Railway really is that. New Class 484 trains from Vivarail are being built at the company’s Long Marston base while a three-month closure early next year will usher in a range of infrastructure upgrades.
On the railway the usual practice is to have a series of closures to incrementally deliver major projects. But in early January islanders will say farewell to their ‘old’ railway, and on reopening in April will find a line transformed.
CLASS 484s
Even the structure of Island line is unique, with Network Rail owning the infrastructure but leasing it to SWR. Thus, it is SWR which is delivering the £26 million upgrade, largely funded by the Department for Transport but with support too from the Solent Local En…
