The Newport Junction Railway – which ran (at that time) from Shide to Sandown – opened for business on 1st February 1875.
The new railway was the first connecting the County Town with the east coast of the Isle of Wight.
Newport already had a station – located where the dual carriageway is today – which had taken passengers to Cowes since 1862. However, the Isle of Wight (Newport Junction) Railway Company called the Shide Station – situated next to the present-day Indian Restaurant – ‘Newport’.
Further stations on the line were Blackwater, Merstone, Horringford, Newchurch and Alverstone – the new line did not go through any major population centres before it reached Sandown Station.
The railway had taken 7 years to build since the passing of the Isle of Wight Newport Junction Railway Act of 1868. The initial cost of building was put at £84,000 (£8million in today’s values). The first sod was cut at Shide on 14th October 1870.
By 1872, the line between Sandown and Horringford had been built but approval to open this for passenger traffic had been refused. The whole line was finally approved after an inspection in January 1875.
By 11th August 1875, the company owning the line had extended the track to Pan Lane to a further station called Pan Mill. However, this was without the permission of the Board of Trade, and this section of the line was operating illegally.
On 1st June 1879, a viaduct was opened to traffic over Coppins Bridge to finally connect the line to Sandown with the main Newport Station, which also served Cowes and by this time, Ryde.
The Newport Junction Railway to Sandown was never profitable. In July 1887, the lines from Newport to Cowes, Ryde and Sandown were all amalgamated to form a single Isle of Wight Central Railway Company.
However, the new amalgamated company also failed to make a profit and was unable to pay its shareholders a dividend for a further 26 years.
The Newport to Sandown Railway operated unprofitably for some 80 years until increasing competition from motor transport forced its closure on 6th February 1956.
Most of the line can still be accessed today as it forms part of the National Route 23 cycle track.
Further Island Echo articles on the stations on the route of the Isle of Wight Newport Junction Railway include the Newport stations, Merstone and Horringford.
Have any Island Echo readers travelled on the railway between Newport and Sandown before its closure in 1956? Let us know in the comments.
Great article…
Might have survived and the Newport to Ryde line via Wootton closed instead had there not been so many level crossings. Would have made more sense .
“If only we could bring it back”
Such a shame the Island Lines were closed down,
now would be a great time to re-open them.