Island Line is a brand of the South Western Railway

train operating company A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating Passenger Trains, passenger trains on the Rail transport in Great Britain, railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the Privatisation ...

which runs the

Island Line Island Line or Island line may refer to: * Island line (MTR), one of the lines of the MTR metro system in Hong Kong * Island Line, Isle of Wight, a railway line on the Isle of Wight, England ** Island Line (brand) Island Line is a brand of the ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. A stand-alone franchise from 1996 until 2007, it then became part of the

South Western franchise South Western is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services from London Waterloo to destinations in Surrey, Hampshire, Somerset, Dorset, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Devon on the South West, Portsmouth Direct and West of Engl ...

operated by

South West Trains Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited, trading as South West Trains (SWT), was an English train operating company owned by Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach, which operated the South Western franchise between February 1996 and August 2017. SWT op ...

until August 2017 and since by South Western Railway.

History

Before Island Line

From 1985 to 1990 rail services on the Isle of Wight operated under the

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

''RydeRail''. In 1986

Network SouthEast Network SouthEast (NSE) was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE mainly operated commuter rail trains within Greater London and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the netwo ...

was created, itself part of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

, and RydeRail was incorporated into it as a sub-brand.

Island Line

The name ''Island Line'' first came into use in 1989, when Class 483 trains were introduced on the route, and this new brand name and a logo were included on the trains' livery. However, this re-branding did not officially occur until 1994, when it had completely replaced all ''RydeRail'' branding. From 1989 until 1996, Island Line was a sub-brand of

. In 1996, services on the line were

privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

as the Island Line

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

, with the winning bid from

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

(legal name Island Line Limited). On commencing operations on 13 October 1996, the name ''Island Line'' for the passenger service was retained. Island Line was the only passenger franchise that included maintenance of the infrastructure in addition to the running of passenger services.

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

and its predecessors have continued to own the infrastructure, but lease this out to the operator who is therefore responsible for everyday maintenance of the track and immediate foundations. While trains have never served Ventnor at any time since the Island Line brand was brought in, several attempts have been made to encourage use of the train to reach the former terminus. A dedicated rail-link

feeder bus Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indication ...

was introduced in 2004, operating on a direct route between Shanklin and Ventnor, but this was withdrawn in September 2010 after decisions by the

Isle of Wight Council The Isle of Wight Council is a unitary authority covering the Isle of Wight, an island in the south of England. It is currently made up of 39 seats. Since the 2021 election, there has been an 'Alliance' coalition administration of Independents, ...

about the funding of

Wightbus 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 t ...

. However, connections and through ticketing have since been provided on the regular bus service, which was slightly diverted to serve the main station entrance. These arrangements continue to be advertised in the rail timetable. The Island Line franchise was, until February 2007, the smallest train operating company on the

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...

network. It was combined with the

franchise to form the new

in an effort to reduce the number of train operating companies. Although South West Trains operated the line thereafter, the ''Island Line'' branding was retained. Island Line Trains repainted all their stations in a heritage cream and green colour scheme, as part of a general station improvement package.

Operations under South Western Railway

In March 2017, the DfT awarded the franchise to a

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.MTR consortium with South Western Railway, which includes the Island Line, commencing on 20 August 2017. It will run until at least August 2024 with an option for the DfT to extend for a further year. South Western Railway will be working with the local council and bodies with regards to replacing the rolling stock, upgrading the infrastructure and adding an additional passing loop to introduce a 30-minute service to improve connection times with the Ryde to Portsmouth ferry service and the hovercraft. These expected changes were received favourably by the Keep Island Line in Franchise (KILF) group, who have been campaigning for improvements to the line for several years.

Rolling stock

Standard National Rail vehicle types cannot be used by Island Line Trains, due to the low ceiling within Ryde Tunnel, where the track-bed needed to be raised following flooding. Instead, services are operated using Class 484 units, which are refurbished ex-

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

tube trains originally built in 1978. These recently replaced the older Class 483 which in turn had replaced the Class 485 units, which dated from 1923 and were introduced to the island in 1967 when the line was electrified. The Class 483 trains entered service on the island in 1989, originally painted in the standard

livery, and were replaced by the Class 484 trains in regular passenger service during 2021. South West Trains bought the stock outright from the leasing company HSBC Rail in March 2007 for the nominal sum of £1. The purchase meant that the leasing costs, which were reimbursed by the government, were eliminated, thereby lowering the line's tax burden. 483004 Ryde St Johns Road

The rolling stock operate in the former

London Regional Transport London Regional Transport (LRT) was the organisation responsible for most of the public transport network in London, England, between 1984 and 2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operatio ...

livery, which the units would have had when operating on the London Underground. Two units first received this livery in 2000, when the rest were painted in a blue livery with pictures of dinosaurs aiming to entice tourists in the summer months when passenger numbers are high. A modern change is that there are yellow warning panels on the front ends of the units, required for the safety of track workers and a change compared with the original red. The livery was introduced as part of a refurbishment completed between 2007 and 2008, which also included work at all stations. Rolling stock also received the same seat moquette that the

London Underground A60 and A62 Stock The London Underground A60 and A62 Stock, commonly referred to as A Stock, was a type of sub-surface rolling stock which operated on the Metropolitan line of the London Underground from 12 June 1961 to 26 September 2012, and on the East London ...

received during their refurbishment between 1993 and 1998, and interior route maps in green. Stations also received new tarmac platforms, green and cream painted seating, new waiting shelters and 'heritage' style station name boards. In September 2019, South Western Railway announced the Class 483s would be replaced by five two-car Class 484s in 2020. The first Class 484 unit, 484001, arrived on the Isle of Wight on 19 November 2020. The final unit, 484005, was delivered on 16 February 2022 and was moved to

Ryde Traincare Depot Ryde Traincare Depot is a railway traction maintenance depot, situated in Ryde, Isle of Wight, to the east of Ryde St John's Road railway station. The depot is operated by Island Line, is allocated the Island Line fleet of the British Rail Clas ...

on 29 February of the same year."Final 484 delivered to Isle of Wight". ''

Today's Railways UK ''Today's Railways UK'' is an English-based monthly magazine covering rail transport in Great Britain. It was founded by Platform 5 in January 2002 as ''Entrain'' as a sister publication to ''Today's Railways Europe'', in January 2006 it was reb ...

'', issue 242 April 2022 page 66.

Current fleet

Past fleet

The route

The railway has eight stations: * Ryde Pier Head * Ryde Esplanade * Ryde St John's Road * Smallbrook Junction *

Brading The ancient 'Kynges Towne' of Brading is the main town of the civil parishes in England, 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 ...

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Shanklin Shanklin () is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, located on Sandown Bay. Shanklin is the southernmost of three settlements which occupy the bay, and is close to Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake ...

References

External links

* {{Use British English, date=August 2010 FirstGroup railway companies MTR Corporation Rail transport on the Isle of Wight Stagecoach Group rail services Train operating companies in the United Kingdom