Works to overhaul the Isle of Wight’s railway network have fallen even further behind schedule due to damage caused by last week’s flash flooding.
Island Line has been closed since the beginning of January to allow for major upgrades – including the introduction of a fleet of new trains – to take place, costing approximately £26million.
South Western Railway, in its original plans, stated that the railway would be open for the summer season, but has now confirmed that the railway is expected to remain closed into the autumn.
It’s the latest in a long line of delays, including those caused by the coronavirus pandemic and software issues with the new trains.
According to the railway operator, water reached a height of 18 inches above the trackbed at Ryde St Johns and Shanklin stations during last weeks storms when over 11cm of rain fell over some parts of the Island in just a few hours. Works to remedy newly laid ballast which has been washed away from underneath the sleepers, along with fixing points and signalling equipment damaged by the water, will need to take place before the network can reopen.
In a statement, the operator said:
“We had been aiming to reopen the Island Line in the first half of next month, but flash flooding has added uncertainty to our programme.
“We are sorry for the ongoing uncertainty for our customers and the communities we serve, and are working incredibly hard to reopen the Island Line as soon as possible.
Article continues below this advertisement “We are as disappointed as our customers by how long it has taken to reopen the line and apologise for the impact this delay has had on the Island. We continue to run the rail replacement bus service and stand ready to increase capacity if demand requires.”
It’s understood that rail replacement bus services will continue to operate but under a new operator – Xelabus, with minibuses operating along the length of Ryde Pier to allow ferry passengers to connect with local buses at Ryde Interchange.
UPDATE @ 13:10 – South Western Railway has released a further statement outlining works that will be undertaken in the near future.
Yesterday night, the Island Line maintenance team began carrying out repair works to the track infrastructure. The team will be working throughout the night for at least 5 nights to rectify the damage done by the water and the operator has issued an apology to those living close to the railway for the disturbance this work will cause.
In terms of the upgrade project itself, South Western Railway says good progress has been made with the testing of the trains and the infrastructure works are largely complete with only snagging items to deal with.
Pig Leg crossing – which was temporarily closed to carry out safety improvements as part of the upgrade project – has now been reopened.
“You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Pump”
If there’s flooding now, it will be nothing to what will come if all those new houses get built. The railway will be almost permanently under water. I hope it can still be stopped and the farm saved.
well on its way to being as comical as the non floating bridge
Houses and gardens have been under water at Morton due to SW trains not clearing ditches and culverts which they are responsible for. It the track flooded here our problem would no doubt be sorted, but as it is nothing is being done.
I think you’re find thats the RSPB they want the Marshes to flood all year for the birds
Birds can fly off, we can’t, its a nightmare, SWR/Island Line don’t care. As the train won’t be running for a while, clear the culverts and ditches.
Would have been more cost effective to have turned the railway line into a canal.
What I can’t understand is why everything seems to take so long? We have the fiasco of the floating bridge which should have been sorted out immediately but has been allowed to drag on for years, the sewerage work at Appley where nothing ever seems to happen, and now literally a few miles of railway which misses deadline after deadline. I don’t know what the schedule is for the widening of St George’s Way into Newport but I’m pretty sure if it was on the mainland it wouldn’t take anywhere near as long to widen a road. Perhaps all the contractors think they’re on holiday when they come over here to work.
Your right Catherine, but don’t forget the biggest fiasco on the island the under cliff not sure how long this road has been closed ,but I do remember I had a lot more hair when it first shut.
When will they reopen the Brading crossings? There’s no sign of any improvements in the last month while they’ve kept three footpaths shut. They’ve reopened pig leg crossing, why not Brading?