Isle of Wight Line’s Future Secured With £26m Investment
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Railway Gazette.
This is the first paragraph.
Investment of £26m to secure the future of the 13·7 km line between Ryde and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight was announced on September 16. This includes infrastructure modernisation and replacement of the life-expired fleet of small profile ex-London Underground trains which date back to 1938.
A few more details.
Infrastructure
Improvements will include.
- The track will be renewed and the electrical systems will be modernised to improve reliability and ride.
- A passing loop will be installed at Brading.
- South Western Railway will improve the important stations.
The track improvements will allow a half-hourly service to link up with the ferries to the mainland.
Rolling Stock
These Class 483 trains will be replaced.
They will be replayed by trains similar to these.
The pictures show Class 230 trains, which are diesel-electric versions of the electric Class 484 trains that will be used on the Island Line.
- Both trains are two car sets, which will work in pairs.
- The new trains will have a capacity of 172 seats, as opposed to the 84 seats of the current stock.
- The speed of the new trains is 60 mph, as opposed to the 45 mph of the current stock.
- It would appear that the new fleet includes a spare train, which should improve reliability.
The extra speed and the passing loop at Brading will enable the half-hourly timetable.
In Battery Class 230 Train Demonstration At Bo’ness And Kinneil Railway, I describe a ride in a battery/electric version of the Class 230 train.
The noise levels were very low and I suspect the Class 484 train will be a quiet ride.
Conclusion
There may be better and much more expensive solutions, but this is a practical one, that is affordable, with little risk.
I also think that £26million to secure the island Line for upwards of a dozen years, is not a bad investment.
The Anonymous Widower 
The biggest issue is the tunnel on the island line. It only allows a max height of 3.3m in the centre and less either side obviously. The tunnel also has a tight reverse curve in it and tight turns on some platforms.
As I understand it the new class 484 will be straight electric but also be lowered by 45mm from the normal 3.62 by removing a packing section apparently. However the units are longer so this will probably mean track realignment and height adjustments.
Comment by Michael Fox | September 16, 2019 |
Im afraid Michael fox, your information on the tunnel is incorrect, the tunnel although tight, is not a problem, the issue is the length of carriage at the Esplanade curve platform and height of all the platforms. On this you are correct and will take some considerable work.
Comment by W Dunnet | May 8, 2020 |
Im afraid Michael fox, your information on the tunnel is incorrect, the tunnel although tight, is not a problem, the issue is the length of carriage at the Esplanade curve platform and height of all the platforms. On this you are correct and will take some considerable work.
Comment by W Dunnet | May 8, 2020 |
The new train carriages are three metres longer than the existing ones, but they are shorter than the standard twenty metres.
Comment by AnonW | May 8, 2020 |