Isle of Wight Island Line faces six-month partial closure

The partial closure of Island Line will allow repair work to be carried out on Ryde Pier.

Part of a railway line is to close to allow repair works to a Victorian-era pier, less than a year after it reopened following a £26m upgrade.

The Isle of Wight's Island Line resumed operations in November 2021 but part of it is due to close between October and Spring 2023.

South Western Railway and Network Rail said it was to allow repair work to be carried out on Ryde Pier.

Replacement buses will allow train passengers to connect with ferries.

Network Rail and Southern Western Railway said the line would be closed between Ryde Esplanade and Ryde Pier Head, beginning on Sunday 30 October and ending in Spring 2023.

They said the "complex programme of vital maintenance and improvements" was needed to ensure the safety of the Victorian-era pier.

The Island Line improvement saw its old 1938 tube trains replaced by refurbished London Underground District Line trains, and its tracks and platforms were upgraded.

The reopening in November 2021 had been put back after work fell behind schedule due to the Covid-19 pandemic, software issues and, in the summer, flash flooding.

The service has also seen a number of cancellations in recent months due to staff shortages.

The Island Line railway operates between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin, serving Smallbrook Junction, Brading, Sandown and Lake stations.

It transports about 1.5 million passengers in a normal year.

Analysis

By Paul Clifton, BBC South transport correspondent

The timing of this is a bit baffling. We've known for years that Ryde Pier needs major repairs.

Why not do the work when the whole line was closed in 2021?

Instead, the railway on this tourism-dependent island will be heavily disrupted for a second time in two years.

Network Rail calls this an extremely complex project and has not committed to a reopening date, but says it should extend the pier's life by another 60 years.

The previous fleet of trains were built in 1938 for the London Underground network, before starting service on the Isle of Wight in 1989