Despite a £26million investment in the Island’s railway line with promises of a 30-minute timetable, it has been revealed that Island Line will continue running a predominantly hourly service until at least November.
It was back in December last year that the hourly timetable – launched in November – was adjusted to introduce 2 trains an hour during peak times only, which was said to be a stepping stone toward the full half-hourly service that South Western Railway was ‘committed to delivering’.
Now, 4 months on, there is no sign of delivering on that commitment as a newly published timetable reveals there are no plans to increase the number of services within the next 7 months.
The news comes as South Western Railway reveals its new timetable for journeys between 29th May and 5th November.
Under the new timetable, the first journey of the day between Monday and Friday will be the 05:47 from Ryde Esplanade with a train departing every half an hour until 08:47. The timetable then switches to hourly through until 16:15, before then reverting to half-hourly. It goes hourly again at 19:51 until the last service at 23:17 (which terminates at Ryde St John’s).
Despite there being a half-hourly service during the peak periods, the train will still only meet the catamaran every hour due to Wightlink’s reduced timetable. The first train to meet a ferry is at 05:45 from Ryde Pier Head.
On Saturdays, trains will run hourly from 05:47 until a short 30-minute timetable comes into force at 10:14 until 12:47. Trains will then run hourly again until 16:47, before resuming a 30-minute service during dinner time until 19:51 – and then hourly until the end of the day.
On Sundays, an hourly service is in force all day with all trains travelling to Ryde Pier Head. The first train of the day being the 06:45 from Ryde Pier Head and the last being the 23:15.
A major part of the investment in Island Line was the introduction of a passing loop at Brading to enable the regular 30-minute service. This was first revealed in September 2019.
Island Line re-opened to passengers on 1st November after a 10-month improvement programme. The scheme was only meant to last 3 months but COVID, Brexit and software issues pushed things back from April to November.
The line re-opened with an hourly timetable due to fewer passengers travelling in the winter months and Wightlink still running an hourly service on their Fastcat service.
A SWR spokesperson has said:
“As part of the £26 million upgrade of the Island Line, two trains per hour now serve customers during peak periods.
“This uplift more than adequately meets current customer demand and closely aligns with the Wightlink Ferry service to and from Ryde Pier Head, which runs once an hour for the majority of the time.
“We continuously monitor customer demand, and remain committed to adjusting service levels as and when it is appropriate to do so”.
It’s not difficult to work out that if there is no timetabled train, then there won’t be a demand for it. Same goes for the Fastcat. Have they actually asked their customers?
Hand it over to the heritage steam railway at Havenstreet to run some real trains, then you’ll see some customers, otherwise convert it into a cycle track/footpath like the rest of the Island lines.
That would of been a better idea in the first place
The half hourly trains terminate at Esplanade to save time – the loop at Brading isn’t quite in the middle of the line and trains are taking too long between there and Pier Head. Presumably they didn’t appreciate how modern safety systems and driving techniques slow everything down.
Once upon a time we had a national rail service – it had a catchy name, British Railways or something like that – and trains ran when and where people needed them. Then some bunch of numpties in Westminster thought it would be a good idea to give them all away to private (including foreign) folks, but at the same time separating responsibility for the trains from that for the tracks.
For some unaccountable reason it all seems to have gone wrong – any ideas?
YES, IT IS CALLED THE TORY PARTY
Those were the days Thatcher, Howe, Lamont, Tebbit. Wonderful times indeed, When the Individual was freed from the shackles of the Unions.
Thats why we have millions of working poor unable to keep thier heads above water, and zero hours contracts
Large companies /corparations doing everything they can to slash t&cs BA PO etc…while they rake in millions
This is why we have a vital transport link in the hands of private companies being run purely for profit..
This is why we have energy companies ripping off everyone with thier dodgy tariffs
Tory bastards
Got on train to get to Shanklin,paid for my ticket at Lake brakes came on in train and would not release,we heard the kaffufle as close to train drivers cabin,he contacted signals,he contacted the “operators”went thru a total rigmarole of resetting trains system no dice,people were advised to get off in Lake,but they could provide no further onward service so best wait another hour for a train to Shanklin or stay on and it was going back to Ryde?We all paid money for this journey to know here….tourists are going to “love this shoddy service”
well the tourists will think a train with brakes jammed to be luxury compared to trying to drive a car around on this island
i thought this was a refurbished train
The trains that actually run are usually empty the majority of the time. Certainly during the evening. It’s no wonder they don’t make a profit.