Following the successful award of funding from the government’s Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund the council has commissioned work to further examine the case to reopen the old railway lines to Ventnor and Newport.
A consortium led by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, in partnership with Ricardo Rail and Connected Economics, delivered a Strategic Outline Business Case for the restoration of rail services to be submitted to government.
A business case considering the re-opening of the railway between the existing Island Line and Newport was submitted to the Department for Transport by the Isle of Wight Council in July 2021.
This work is to explore the case for two potential schemes:
- The extension of the existing Island Line service (Ryde-Shanklin) south of Shanklin to Ventnor; and
- The provision of passenger services through Smallbrook from Ryde to Newport.
In doing so the study will examine the role that rail reopenings can play in supporting the Island’s economic and physical development. In particular it will generate and assess a range of options to meet future transport needs as part of a wider vision to address the Island’s economic, social, environmental and sustainable development objectives. This will include examining the extent to which a range of alternative solutions, such as light rail and bus rapid transit services, could go towards fulfilling these objectives.
We welcome input and feedback from individuals and organisations on any aspect of the emerging proposals – including not only the rail schemes that sit at the heart of this exercise, but alternative approaches to transport connections serving Newport, and Ventnor, that you think should be considered.
If you would like to learn more about the Strategic Outline Business Case, or if there is any information you would like to contribute, please contact the Isle of Wight Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund team via regeneration@iow.gov.uk
Download and view a PDF of the Strategic Outline Business Case