Date: 05/02/2016

Trams could be the answer to saving a dilapidated Isle of Wight rail line, a council-commissioned report has stated. The Island Line between Ryde and Shanklin, which can only run using old tube trains, could be dug up to be replaced with the 'light rail' service. With passenger numbers falling and annual £3.5m losses, trams would be more 'efficient' and 'low cost'. The report comes after the government announced plans to remove the service from the next regional train franchise. [From Richard Buckby]

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Tram plan to replace island rail line

A tram service could be the solution to saving a dilapidated Isle of Wight rail line, a council-commissioned report states.

Related images

Adams 0-4-4T no 30 Shorwell simmers at the buffer stops at Ryde Pier Head station in the summer of 1961.
Location: Ryde Pier Head
Company: Isle of Wight Railway
16/08/1961 K A Gray

Station scene at Sandown, Isle of Wight, in February 1988. On the right are two of the local trains based on ex-London Transport tube stock, while on the left BR Class 03 0-6-0 DM no 03079 stands with permanent way vehicles. The locomotive, which also carried the numbers D2079 and 97805 during its lifetime, is now preserved on the Derwent Valley Light Railway.
Location: Sandown
Company: Isle of Wight Railway
/02/1988 Ian Dinmore