Island Echo always welcome letters to the editor, which may of course not reflect the views of the publication and its staff.
Letter to the Editor
“As you are probably already aware Island Line have been making upgrades to the network for over 2 years now. With the one way system in place at Lake hill the whole line once again has been thrown into chaos.
“I live on Park Mews, a quiet little road next to Sandown train station but the last 2 years has seen many residents move away due to the noise and lack of consideration for residents. In the last 2 years of work on the line we have only ever received 2 letters informing us of planned work and noise.
Article continues below this advertisement “Sandown train station is being treated as a delivery hub and worker rest area and it is now beyond a joke. Workmen can be seen and heard every night shouting, swearing and moving material with absolute no consideration for homeowners. Several properties have now gone up for sale in the road including mine as everybody has had enough.
“When residents have tried to contact Island Line there is never a single reply and the work seems to never end.
“Lastly Island Line promised trains would not be affected during the planned work but so far the trains have only run a hand full of times.
“I really hope you could possibly get some answers from Island line and if they ever plan to apologise to residents for the noise”.
Mr S Whitaker
Sandown
This is so true I have family that live down there who are kept awake night after night by the noise. It’s so inconsiderate there are families, older people and working people all being effected and no consideration from the workers or the rail way what so ever!! It’s totally unacceptable to disturb these people for so long!
Thorn in my side that’s all ur ever be
Shouldn’t that be “all u’ll ever be”?
Thorn in my side that’s all ur ever be
If you don’t want to be disturbed why in god’s name would you buy a house next to an engineers yard for a railway? Common sense tells you it’s going to be busy with vehicle and contractors, especially at night when trains aren’t running
But it hasn’t been up until the last 9 months or so? We all know the trains run we hear them from our road at start and finsh(if your lucky) according to timetable, then it stops we don’t have have haulage or work contractors working all night, none of the stations do until now! Sandown seems to have become a hub for all things noisy and we don’t give a “feck” what residents think”which is Island Line all over they don’t give a tinkers cuss what customers think(quaint old phrase not gender or race specific!) You try getting in touch with them, Southwest trains forget they run a line over here(badly) … But St John’s do have the managers name on a board to get in touch with have a look on Sandown platform get a name go direct…
The author of this letter is somewhat disingenuous with the truth. Since the 1 way system was introduced last week, trains ran consistently throughout the week until planned engineering works required the line to be closed for the weekend. The line has been there for over 150 years, so I expect considerably longer than any houses that the author mentions. However, I do understand the frustration and feel that the operator should be doing more to alleviate noise and keep neighbours informed
The same response is often heard when people complain about noise from pubs or music venues. If people can’t live alongside stations, pubs, music venues etc, where can homes actually be in towns?
Never had this much trouble with the old trains, old track, old signals, old staff.
If you buy a house next to a worksite used to maintain a railway… surely you expect to be disturbed at night, when most maintenance is carried out? It’s the only site they have to store and deliver vehicles and maintenance
It would appear to me that a lot of work has been transferred from the depot at Ryde St Johns to Sandown, probably because all of the complaints made in Ryde. The storage area in Sandown was always just for storage. Now there appears to be a 24/7 operation going on there. Complain to Environmental Health at the Council and demand answers.
Ryde St John’s Road is busy with the Pier Head upgrade works and improvements. The Sandown yard is the closest one to the bridge works at Lake so makes sense using it.
The railway act states there allowed to make as much noise as they want the local authorities have no power
I think you’ll find environmental health and the HASAW act will trump any railways act.
Shows how much you know! Any work by the railways which is done outside of normal working hours (8am to 6pm Mon-Fri) would be subject to conditions, just like any other business. In this case, it would appear that they are working throughout the night until dawn every day including Sundays. I feel sorry for the families that live down there, particulary the kids who are studying for their GCSEs and A levels, going to school tired.
Who cares move house
IT IS THE ONLY STATION ON THE ISLAND TO HAVE VEHICULER ASSESS.
Was the railway line not there when you purchased your house??? What did you expect bit like saying I live on a main road and there is always cars and lorries going past
Good luck selling now that you have told everyone why you are selling up
Mainlanders don’t read the IE imo.
People like you will complain about the noise and smell of animals if you live in the middle of a field. Feel fortunate you have a house unlike some of the poor people in turkey at the moment.
Before you can sell a home in the UK you are asked to sign a document confirming that there are no ongoing or historic (within the last 12 months) disputes with any neighbour or surrounding business. I don’t think that anyone can sell without disclosing those facts without committing an offence. Now it’s public knowledge so the author of this letter must tell any potential buyer in advance, as far as I know not doing so could leave the seller wide open to action in the courts afterwards. I’m no legal expert by the way, so I’d check with a solicitor if you are trying to sell at this site.