Trust 'lost' over railway line closure

Phil Jelly said the island's railway line was just "going downhill"

The public have lost trust in transport bosses over planned closures to an island railway line, a voluntary group has said.

The 8.5 mile (13.7km) Island Line on the Isle of Wight from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin will close between 6 September and 6 October for "vital maintenance", according to South Western Railway, with the pier set to stay closed until May 2025.

Phil Jelly from the Isle of Wight Bus & Rail Users' Group said the closure was "another episode in the long-running saga of Island Line which just ends up with them going downhill".

Network Rail route renewals director George Murrell said the work was essential for trains to run safely.

The pier will close for nine months

The line has already been closed for several months over the past few years.

The route closed for 10 months in 2021 for a complete overhaul, including track and signalling.

The pier then closed for nine months in 2022-23, with less than half of the planned work completed. Rough winter weather was blamed.

Mr Murrell said the works would enable trains to travel along the pier safely

Neil Drury from South Western Railway acknowledged there had been a "significant amount of disruption" on the line, but that the railway had to shut for the works needed.

"We're having to do a significant amount of infrastructure work, bridge work, track work, signalling and some station work as well," he said.

Mr Murrell said the pier closure would allow them to renew "pretty much all of the track" as well as the material supporting it.

"There's actually 2500m of brand new steel bearers that we're going to be installing along the full length of the pier to make sure that's there to support the track for safely-running trains," he said.