 Isle of Wight Railway monogram | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| 1860 | Act of Incorporation |
| 1864 | First train ran |
| Successor organisation | |
| 1923 | "Grouping" into Southern Railway |
| Key locations | |
| Headquarters | Sandown station |
| Workshops | Ryde Works |
| Major stations | Ryde St John's Road Sandown |
| Route mileage | |
| 1864 | 7+1⁄4 mi (11.5 km) |
| 1866 | 11+1⁄4 mi (18 km) |
| 1880* | 12+1⁄2 mi (20 km) |
| 1882* | 15+1⁄4 mi (24.5 km) Mileage shown as at end of year stated. * - From 1880, includes running powers to Ryde Pier. |
The Isle of Wight Railway was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom; it operated 14 miles (23 kilometres) of railway line between Ryde and Ventnor. It opened the first section of line from Ryde to Sandown in 1864, later extending to Ventnor in 1866. The Ryde station was at St Johns Road, some distance from the pier where the majority of travellers arrived. A tramway operated on the pier itself, and a street-running tramway later operated from the Pier to St Johns Road. It was not until 1880 that two mainland railways companies jointly extended the railway line to the Pier Head, and IoWR trains ran through, improving the journey arrangements.
An independent company built a branch line from Brading to Bembridge, and the IoWR operated passenger trains on the line from 1882, and later absorbed the owning company. The IoWR was itself absorbed into the Southern Railway in the "grouping" of 1923.
The Bembridge branch closed in 1953, and in 1966 the Ryde Pier Head to Ventnor line was truncated to terminate at Shanklin. This was electrified, and former London Underground tube train stock was brought into use on the line; this arrangement continues to the present day.