Railways on the Isle of Wight
There once existed a 55 1⁄2-mile (89.3 km) network of railway lines on the Isle of Wight. They were opened by several companies between 1862 and 1901, and all but the 8 1⁄2-mile-long (13.7 km) Island Line closed between 1952 and 1966. A further 5 1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) have reopened as the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
The first railway to be built on the island ran for a distance of 2,500 yards (2,300 m). It was opened in 1833 on the Nash Estate near Yarmouth. Its usage is presumed to have been for transporting brickmaking materials to and from a jetty on the Solent, and it is not thought to have used mechanical traction. The line is now abandoned.
The first conventional railway line to open on the island was that from Cowes to Newport. The Cowes & Newport Railway Company began construction of the line in 1859 after an enabling Act of Parliament was passed earlier that year. The line opened to passengers in June 1862.
Shortly after this, the Isle of Wight Railway (IWR) company built its initial line from Ryde to Shanklin, opening in 1864. Also in 1864, horse-drawn trams began running along Ryde Pier, connecting ferry services to the town. The IWR opened an extension of its main line to reach Ventnor in 1866. In 1871, the Ryde tramway was extended to meet the railway line at Ryde St John's Road.
The Ryde & Newport Railway opened in December 1875, with operations controlled by the Cowes & Newport company.
In 1875, the Isle of Wight (Newport Junction) Railway opened the main part of its 10-mile Sandown to Newport line, planned in 1868. It would have opened sooner, but failed official inspections. In February 1875, the line was opened between Shide, a suburb of Newport, and the IWR station at Sandown. Eight months later the line was extended a further half mile to reach Pan Lane. However, the final half-mile from there to Newport station did not open until 1879. Four years of poor connections in Newport meant not enough passengers or freight had been attracted to the line, and the company passed into receivership in 1880. At this point, it was bought by the Cowes & Newport/Ryde & Newport company, who were legally renamed as the Isle of Wight Central Railway.
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