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Tuesday 10 Dec 2024

ON TRACK: Critical life extension work on the Island Line reaches halfway point

Region & Route:

Southern

| Southern: Wessex

Ongoing work on the Isle of Wight is progressing well as Network Rail’s engineers continue to complete important upgrades to the pier structure between Ryde Pierhead and Ryde Esplanade.

This nine-month programme of upgrades is now roughly halfway through and Network Rail’s engineers are making good progress repairing and preserving the historic Ryde Pier structure with the work expected to be completed and train services between Ryde Pierhead and Ryde Esplanade expected to resume in early May 2025 as planned.

To date, engineers have installed approximately 295m of 590m of new rail and replaced 450 worn-out wooden sleepers with new composite sleepers which are more resilient to the extreme weather, and installed 1,250m out of 2,500m of new rail bearers – the steel girder that sits between the pier sub structure and the sleepers and rails. Alongside this, work to refurbish parts of the Ryde Pier sub structure remains ongoing.

This latest milestone follows the completion of a month-long programme of critical maintenance by both Network Rail and South Western Railway (SWR) which included:

• Laying 110m of new track through Ryde Esplanade station with composite sleepers which are more resilient to this coastal environment and will last for at least 60 years
• Installing around 48 new rail bearers over 65m from the end of Ryde Esplanade toward Ryde Pierhead and amending signalling (the railways traffic lights) to enable train services to resume running between Ryde Esplanade and Shanklin
• Realigning the track through Ryde Esplanade station to reduce the gap between the train and platform, and renewing part of the track at Smallbrook Junction
• Replacing the bridge decks at both Park and Rink Road bridges, and bridge repairs in Sandown
• Renovations to the historic footbridge at Brading.

While no trains will serve Ryde Pierhead until May 2025, services continue to run between Ryde Esplanade and Shanklin, operating every 30 minutes, alongside a minibus shuttle service between Ryde Pier Head and Ryde Esplanade in order to maintain connections with ferry services.

George Murrell, Network Rail Wessex Route Renewals Director, said: “We’re now roughly at the mid-way point of our critical life extension work and I’m really pleased to say the work is progressing well and we are currently on course to complete this work and reopen the railway in early May 2025 as planned, in time for the summer holiday season.

“This has been and remains a really challenging and complex working environment for our engineers and I’m proud of the progress our teams are making in what, at times, has been very tricky and extremely wet and windy conditions.

“This is really critical work and we’re committed to ensuring future generations of passengers can continue to benefit from this important railway but I recognise this work is disruptive so I’d like to sincerely thank passengers, locals residents and business for their ongoing patience while we complete these works.”

Neil Drury, Engineering and Infrastructure Director said: “We know just how important Ryde Pier and the Island Line is to the local communities of the Isle of Wight, so we’re very pleased to see the programme progressing well, despite the difficult conditions that engineers are working in.

“We’re looking forward to restoring services along the full length of the Island Line, from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin, in the new year. We’re very grateful for our customers’ patience as we work with Network Rail to complete this very important work.”