There are several modes of Transport on the Isle of Wight , an island in the English Channel.
The Island Line is the one railway left on the island. It runs some 8½ miles from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin, down the eastern side of the island via Brading and Sandown. It was opened by the Isle of Wight Railway in 1864, and was nationalised in 1948, falling under the Southern Region of British Railways. It was transferred to Network SouthEast in 1982, as part of the sectorisation of British Rail, who operated it under the Ryde Rail brand. After the privatisation of British Rail, it was run by Island Line Trains between 1996 and 2007, the smallest train operating company on the National Rail network. Services are now provided by South Western Railway, using electric trains which are converted London Underground rolling stock. These trains date from 1938, making them the oldest trains in regular passenger service anywhere in the UK.
The island also has a steam-operated heritage railway, the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. This connects with the Island Line at Smallbrook Junction, and was part of the former Ryde to Newport line.
In the 1950s and 1960s, and before the Beeching Report, the island enjoyed a comprehensive network based on a triangle of lines connecting Ryde, Newport, Sandown and Ventnor. Lines ran from Ryde to Cowes via Newport and from Ryde to Ventnor via Brading, Sandown and Shanklin. Branch lines led from Brading to Bembridge, Sandown to Newport and west from Newport to Yarmouth and Freshwater. There were 2 stations at Ventnor:
The two lines terminated at different levels above the town.
Today much of the old rail network has been converted to cycle ways, including the Newport-Cowes, Newport-Sandown and Yarmouth-Freshwater sections. Other sections can still be traced on the ground, including the two tunnels where the Ventnor lines ran beneath the downs.
The Island has 489 miles (787 km) of roadway, and does not have any motorway, although it does have a short stretch of dual carriageway with a 70 mph speed limit north of Newport.
A sign used to greet visitors disembarking from the car ferry at Fishbourne stating Island Roads are Different, Please Drive Carefully. [1]
April 1905 saw the start of bus services, with the Isle of Wight Express Syndicate operating a circular service running between Newport, Shanklin, Sandown and Ryde. The Vectis bus company was formed in 1922. At first it used only double decker buses; however a review found that island roads were not always suitable, and so single deckers were used instead (double deckers were re-introduced in 1936). In 1929, the Vectis Bus Company was bought by Southern Railway, forming Southern Vectis. After 1968 it became part of the state-owned National Bus Company. In 1986 with privatisation, the bus company was bought by its management team, and it stayed independent until 2005, when it was bought by the Go-Ahead Group. [2]
Southern Vectis had a near-monopoly of island bus transport for most of the 20th and early 21st Century, challenged only briefly after deregulation in 1986. It now runs fifteen different routes, with the most regular services between the larger towns such as Ryde and Cowes. From April 2006, the company changed the livery on its buses (excluding open top buses) to two shades of green, and also adopted a new simplified network, based on most routes radiating from Newport. The bus station in Newport was relocated nearby and redeveloped, with the previous site built over with shops.
During the summer, Southern Vectis also operates some open-topped buses as tourist routes: The Downs Breezer and The Needles Breezer.
Wightbus first started in the 1970s as the Isle of Wight County Council's 'County Bus', and branded 'Wightbus' in 1997. They operate a smaller network of services that are not viable for a commercial operator, but that attract government subsidy. They took around 1000 island students to and from school, until Southern Vectis took over all school services from September 2010. [3]
FYTbus operates three bus routes in and around Freshwater, Yarmouth and Totland using a fleet of minibuses. They operate three routes -
·A (Yarmouth - Freshwater - Freshwater Bay); [4] ·B (Freshwater - Totland Bay - Colwell Bay - Norton Green - Freshwater); [5] ·C (Yarmouth - Freshwater Bay - Totland Bay - Colwell Bay - Freshwater - Yarmouth) [6]
Cowes has currently the only park-and-ride bus site on the island; however there has been talk of building one for Newport. [7]
There are three bus stations on the Isle of Wight, most services from them are run by Southern Vectis:
Newport bus station is located in the town centre of Newport, on Orchard Street. The original 1960s bus station was demolished in late 2005 to make way for a retail development. [8]
The present bus station features an indoor heated waiting area and an information desk. Seats and lighting have been installed and the entire bus station is a no-smoking area.
Newport town centre has bus lanes leading to the bus station, known as the 'Red Carpet'. However one section of the bus lane in South Street, close to the bus station, which was originally temporary while the bus station was being built, has been proved 'not legal', effectively meaning any other vehicle can use it. [9]
Ryde bus station is slightly smaller than Newport's and is located on the Esplanade near the Hovertravel terminal and Island Line railway station. Over time there have been plans to re-develop it into a new interchange as a gateway to the Island. However, none of these plans have so far come to fruition. Benches and litter bins removed for construction work have been replaced and the temporary Esplanade bus stops removed. In October 2009 the project was abandoned. [10]
Yarmouth bus station , next to the Wightlink ferry terminal, serves Southern Vectis route 7 as well as The Needles tour during the summer. As well as three stands for buses, the area has parking for visiting coaches, often full in the summer. There is a large bus shelter for waiting passengers, which doubles as an information kiosk in the summer.
The Island has an extensive network of byways, bridleways, footpaths and cycle tracks, including 520 miles (840 km) of public rights of way. Several long-distance paths are highlighted on Ordnance Survey maps and local signs, including a route around the whole island (the Isle of Wight Coastal Path), and smaller trails such as the Tennyson Trail and Worsley Trail. The island is also home to the Isle of Wight Walking Festival, which has taken place annually in May for ten years and now has over 200 different walks. [11]
Sustrans National Cycle Network routes 22 and 23 have sections through the Isle of Wight, including off-road sections of route 23 between Cowes and Newport and Newport and Sandown along disused railway lines. There is a signed "round-the-island" cycle route primarily on road, as well as a 12-mile (19 km) on and off-road leisure route called the Sunshine Trail. The Island holds an annual Cycling Festival in July and the Isle of Wight Randonnee takes place on the May Bank holiday, a cycling race going over minor roads right around the island.
There are two small general aviation airfields: Isle of Wight Airport at Sandown and Bembridge Airport. These are popular with day-trippers flying from the mainland in summer. Flights to and from London have been trialled, but proved unpopular and were discontinued. [12] However future plans could see the flight reinstated. [13]
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The construction of a fixed (tunnel or bridge) link across the Solent has been proposed by a variety of groups over many years. Such proposals have divided opinion among the local population, with some opinion polling showing opposition, while some more recent surveys showing support depending on the type of proposal. [14]
The arguments for a fixed link include claims that it would boost the economy by creating more jobs, and provide faster, cheaper and less weather-dependent travel to the mainland. Conversely, the arguments against include the potential for the outsourcing of jobs and services to the mainland, a negative environmental impact (such as on the red squirrel population), [15] increases in traffic putting stress on the local road network, [15] the loss of the island's character and thus a decline in tourism, a potential increase in crime, [15] and upward pressure on house prices. [15]
One proposal in 2008 came from local company Civic Networks Ltd and businessman John Clewley in March 2008, which suggested a tramway to link Ryde to Gosport and rail networks on both sides. The plans also included a large new harbour at Ryde, with berthing facilities for four car and four passenger ferries and two container ships and replacement facilities for the harbour. [16] Unlike previous proposals, it was met with more support from residents, as it would not risk increased volumes of traffic on the island's roads. [17] As of 2020 Network Rail have committed £26m including money for the renewal of Ryde Pier, but the proposal for a link at the pier has gone silent. [18]
In late 2014, local pro-link campaigner Carl Feeney launched a Facebook group, IOW Fixed Link Campaign. [19] A £3 billion undersea road tunnel proposal was published in October 2014 by Feeney's company Able Connections Ltd, under its operating name Pro-Link. [20] In 2017, the group released a poll of residents in which 3,280 people supported an idea. [21] However the survey was carried out by ProLink rather than an independent company, using methods including SurveyMonkey and the UK Parliament petitions website, rather than contracting a major national polling company to carry out its own survey. [20]
Pro-Link branded its campaign as the "Solent Freedom Tunnel", proceeding to launch a GoFundMe page in October 2018 with a target of £130,000 for a feasibility study to be commissioned from Arup Group. [22] The page has raised £6,471 as of January 2020, and the group claims to have raised a further £14,000 from other sources. [22]
Pro link campaigner Feeney ran for the Isle of Wight constituency in the 2019 United Kingdom general election as an Independent Network candidate. He attracted criticism in December 2019 when he said his journey to campaign in East Cowes was "as if we had gone to another country", [19] and went on to claim the Red Funnel terminal had the appearance of a "bomb site". [19] He stated that the terminal had "stripped the souls and hopes from nearby residents". [19] Feeney received 1,542 votes, less than previous independent candidates had achieved, and consequently lost his deposit. [22] No Fixed Link Campaign wrote an editorial piece in the County Press stating that it was declaring victory. [15] Feeney has stated he will continue his campaign after a period of "rest with my family". [22]
The Isle of Wight is an island, county and unitary authority in the English Channel, 2 to 5 miles off the coast of Hampshire, across the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island in England. Referred to as "The Island" by residents, the Isle of Wight has resorts that have been popular holiday destinations since Victorian times. It is known for its mild climate, coastal scenery, and verdant landscape of fields, downland, and chines. The island is historically part of Hampshire. The island is designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Yarmouth is a town, port and civil parish in the west of the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river. The town grew near the river crossing, originally a ferry, which was replaced with a road bridge in 1863.
The Island Line is a railway line on the Isle of Wight which runs along the island's east coast and links Ryde Pier Head with Shanklin. Trains connect at Ryde Pier Head with passenger ferries to Portsmouth Harbour, and these ferries in turn connect with the rest of the National Rail network via the Portsmouth Direct Line. The line also connects to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, a heritage railway, at Smallbrook Junction. For much of its length the line runs alongside the A3055, criss-crossing this road by means of the Ryde Tunnel and bridges at Rowborough, Morton Common, Lake Hill and Littlestairs.
The ancient 'Kynges Towne' of Brading is the main town of the civil parish of the same name. The ecclesiastical parish of Brading used to cover about a tenth of the Isle of Wight. The civil parish now includes the town itself and Adgestone, Morton, Nunwell and other outlying areas between Ryde, St Helens, Bembridge, Sandown and Arreton. Alverstone was transferred to the Newchurch parish some thirty years ago.
Wroxall is a village and civil parish in the central south of the Isle of Wight.
The Isle of Wight Central Railway (IoWCR) was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. It was formed in 1887 by the merging of three earlier railways, the Cowes and Newport Railway, the Ryde and Newport Railway and the Isle of Wight Railway,.
The Isle of Wight Railway was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom; it operated 14 miles of railway line between Ryde and Ventnor. It opened the first section of line from Ryde to Sandown in 1864, later extending to Ventnor in 1866. The Ryde station was at St Johns Road, some distance from the pier where the majority of travellers arrived. A tramway operated on the pier itself, and a street-running tramway later operated from the Pier to St Johns Road. It was not until 1880 that two mainland railways companies jointly extended the railway line to the Pier Head, and IoWR trains ran through, improving the journey arrangements.
Blackwater is a village on the Isle of Wight, England. It is located about two miles south of Newport, close to the geographic centre of the island. It is in the civil parish of Arreton. The Newclose County Cricket Ground is just to the north of the village.
Newchurch is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. It is located between Sandown and Newport in the southeast of the island. Anthony Dillington, owner of the Knighton Gorges Manor in Newchurch wrote to his son Robert in 1574 that, "This is the very Garden of England, and we be privileged to work in it as Husbandmen......." Newchurch obtained its name from the new church built in 1087 by the Norman monks of Lyra. The Newchurch Parish for many centuries stretched from the north to south coasts of the Island; by the early Nineteenth Century the growing resort towns of Ventnor and Ryde were included within its boundaries. The present day parish includes Newchurch Village, Apse Heath, Winford, Whiteley Bank, Alverstone, Alverstone Garden Village, Queen's Bower, Princelett and Mersley.
Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight. The company was founded in 1921 as "Dodson and Campbell" and became the "Vectis Bus Company" in 1923. The company was purchased by the Southern Railway before being nationalised in 1969. In 1987, the company was re-privatised. In July 2005, it became a subsidiary of Go-Ahead Group.
Merstone is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight. It is home to Merston Manor, built in 1605 in the Jacobean style by Edward Cheeke, and rebuilt in the Victorian era. Merston Manor was first mentioned in the Domesday Book, and the present structure is arguably the oldest brick house on the Island. Prior to the Norman Conquest, Merston Manor was owned by the Brictuin family. The manor now belongs to the Crofts family. According to the Post Office the population of the hamlet was at the 2011 Census included in the civil parish of Arreton.
Island Line is a brand of the South Western Railway train operating company which runs the 8.5-mile (13.7 km) Island Line on the Isle of Wight. A stand-alone franchise from 1996 until 2007, it then became part of the South Western franchise operated by South West Trains until August 2017 and since by South Western Railway.
Wightbus was a bus operator on the Isle of Wight, established and owned by the Isle of Wight County Council. It operated a network of thirteen local bus services running across the island, mostly services which would not have been viable for the island's dominant commercial operator, Southern Vectis, to operate.
The Isle of Wight Coastal Path is a circular long-distance footpath of 70 miles (113 km) around the Isle of Wight, UK. It follows public footpaths and minor lanes, with some sections along roads.
Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service was the statutory fire and rescue service covering the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England. On 1 April 2021, it merged with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to form Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS).
There once existed a 55+1⁄2-mile (89.3 km) network of railway lines on the Isle of Wight, which operated both as a self-contained railway network, and as links to ferry services between the island and the South coast of Great Britain. The routes were opened by several companies between 1862 and 1901 and modernised after The Grouping in the 1920s. Most of them were permanently closed between 1952 and 1966, whilst the 8+1⁄2-mile-long (13.7 km) Island Line was temporarily closed in 1966 and rebuilt for electric train services, introduced in 1967. Replacement trains were introduced in 1990, and again in 2021 along with a major renewal of the line. A further 5+1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) have reopened as a heritage line known as the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and there have been several proposals to expand the network further since the 1960s, either with conventional heavy rail or by conversion to light rail.
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