This video was taken on 26/07/2026

The 8.5 mile railway from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin (now a community railway branded as Island Line) is the only commercially operational part of the 55mile Isle of Wight railway network. The Isle of Wight Steam Railway however operates a delightful tourist line from an interchange station with Island Line at Smallbrook Junction to Wootton.

It is unique on a number of calls- primarily, it has the only bus/train/hovercraft interchange in the world (Ryde Esplanade), and since the late 1960s has been operated exclusively by various generations of ex-London Underground train. Finally, the line still uses jointed rail exclusively, as it does not have the infrastructure for handling continuous welded rail- so hold tight!
Another unique feature of this line is that has the longest stretch of standard gauge railway on a pier with a regular passenger service (in the world?).

British Rail was faced with a problem when it decided to replace steam locos on the network in the mid 60s. In particular, Ryde Tunnel was prone to flooding, so the trackbed had been raised. This meant that only the ancient, short and low coaches used on the line could fit. Modern length coaches would not, as the roof was 25cm too low.

The belt and braces approach was to buy old London Underground trains, and convert them to diesel power. Luckily, some degree of common sense prevailed, and the line from Ryde to Shanklin was electrified via third rail at 660v DC. Unfortunately, all the other remaining lines were closed in 1966, with the Ryde line reopening as an electric railway in 1967. Thus began a 50+ year period of using old underground trains on the line. The first trains were London Underground 1923 stock, converted into 3 and 4 car units and from 4 to 3 rail operation (class 485 and 486). They were up to 44 years when they started running and nearly 70 when replaced. The replacements were London Underground 1938 stock. These were converted to two car class 483 units. These were up to 54 years old upon introduction and over 80 when retired! The current trains are London Underground D78 stock (a more 40 years old at introduction!), completely rebuilt as five two car units by Vivarail. It was discovered that even though they are taller than previous trains, they would fit in Ryde tunnel.
The whole line was upgraded for the introduction of these trains in 2019. Platforms were raised, the line voltage was increased to 750v DC, the loop was reinstated at Brading (allowing a clock face half hourly service) and stations were upgraded.
The trains were problematic when introduced, as Vivarail went bankrupt. There were problems with wheel wear and spare parts. Unit 484001 got flooded and needed fixing up.
However, at least from a passenger point of view, they are a substantial improvement (as long as they work!)- much better than one of the other ideas, which was to use knackered and rusty Ansaldo-Breda T69 trams withdrawn from the Birmingham network.
The current trains run at speeds of up to 45mph, but you would not want to go much faster in old underground stock on the mostly jointed rail found on the Island!

Index points:
00:00 Unit 484005 at Shanklin
00:15 Shanklin is the current terminus of line, but it used to continue to Ventnor via Wroxall
00:38 Leaving Shanklin
02:16 Lake (1987)
04:56 Sandown- passing loop
05:55 Maintenance side and Newport line (closed 1966) left here
06:33 Line was double track to Brading until 1988
09:05 Brading- loop line closed 1988, but reinstated 2021 to allow standard pattern timetable
09:28 Passing unit 484001 heading to Shanklin
12:21 Line from Bembridge (closed 1953) left here
13:15 Smallbrook Junction (1991)- pass - only provides access when IWSR is open
13:46 Double track ends here- IWSR to Wootton can be seen
14:47 Ryde St John's Road - depot is on other side
16:48 Ryde Tunnel (396yds)
17:00 Operational double ends here
17:11 Ryde Esplanade- the only train/bus/hovercraft interchange in the world
07:35 Cunard's newest liner- Queen Anne- heading for a tour of Iceland
18:24 Ryde Pier (681m) is actually three piers- road, ex-tramway (now walkway) and railway
19:01 Ryde Pier Head
19:31 Watching a hovercraft heading for Southsea on the mainland