A TARGET to reopen Ryde Pier on the Isle of Wight for South Western Railway Island Line services in time for the annual Isle of Wight Festival has been narrowly missed, with Network Rail confirming a new date of July 10.
The 143-year-old pier has been undergoing an extensive programme of heavy maintenance and renewals designed to extend its life by a further 60 years. Throughout the closure, train services between Ryde Pier Head and Ryde Esplanade have been replaced by a minibus shuttle, while Island Line services have continued as normal between Ryde Esplanade and Shanklin.
Since April, track and steelwork replacement has been completed, and a new weather screen has also been installed. Network Rail stated that its engineers have been working hard to recover from a three-month delay due to extreme weather, during which storms damaged scaffolding and made it unsafe to work.
The delay to the planned reopening date of June is due to different components being required to secure rails and sleepers on one section of the pier structure. Network Rail said the necessary redesign, along with sourcing and supply of components, “added complexity to an already challenging project”.
SWR projects and change director Alex Foulds said: “We know just how important the Island Line is to businesses and the community, which is why we aimed to reopen the line between Ryde Pier Head and Ryde Esplanade in time for the Isle of Wight Festival. We are sorry we haven’t been able to meet that target.
“We always knew this would be a challenging project for a number of reasons. This is the world’s second-longest pier, and it was designed and constructed in the Victorian era using five different designs. Our focus now is to ensure that the pier is ready for the school holidays and to resume train services along the length of the Island Line as soon as possible.”
NR’s Wessex Route director, Mark Killick, added: “We are really disappointed and sorry. We fully understand the important role the line plays in supporting local tourism and the economy, particularly during the busy summer holidays, and our main focus is continuing to work closely with SWR to ens
