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Notes: When Ventnor Station was first opened 1866 on the site
of an existing operating quarry only temporary accommodation was
provided. A permanent station was eventually built including a
large goods yard with three sidings and coal ground for local
merchants who were accommodated in quarried chambers in the cliff
face. Although there were only two passengers roads the station
was provided with three platform faces on two island platforms.
The fourth platform face was for goods with a large goods shed
provided at the end of the platform.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ISLE OF
WIGHT RAILWAY
After several failed attempts to build a railway to Ventnor, a
Bill was proposed by the Isle of Wight Railway in 1860 for a line
from Ryde to Ventnor.
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An Act was passed authorising the building
of the line and by 1864 the line had reached Shanklin but following
objections from landowners the intended route through Luccombe
and Bonchurch was dropped in favour of a new route from the north
passing through Wroxall. This route required the construction
of a 1312 yard tunnel under St. Boniface Down; the line eventually
reached Ventnor in 1866. |
From the opening the line was well
used losing little traffic to the IWCR who opened a branch
from Merstone - Ventnor Town in 1900.
Ventnor Town was in fact located a mile west of the town centre
and was never well used and although the IWR station was also
inconveniently sited high above the town it provided a faster
and therefore more poplar route from Ryde.
Since the 17th C there has been various schemes to drain and
reclaim Brading Marshes, none of these had been successful until
the Brading Harbour Improvements and Railway Company obtained
powers in 1874 to construct a 2 1/2 mile railway from the IWR
at Brading to Bembridge across the reclaimed land. The scheme
took eight years to complete, opening on 27th May 1882. From the
outset the service was operated by the Isle of Wight Railway who
bought the line outright for £430 on 2nd August 1898. The
line initially proved very popular and was especially busy on
summer weekends.
| All the islands railways were absorbed into the Southern Railway
in the 1923 grouping and the service was soon upgraded with the
introduction of new rolling stock and a revised timetable that
included some through running between the various lines. The Southern
Railway itself became part of the Southern Region of British Railways
after nationalisation in 1948 |
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and initially there were few changes. However this was short lived; improved bus services and the popularity
of the motor car soon and holidays abroad led to dwindling passenger
numbers. Merstone - Ventnor was the first line to close in 1952
leaving the IWR as the only route serving the town. The following
year the Bembridge branch closed.
During the early 1960s it was decided to replace the remaining
aging Island locomotives but the end steam operation in favour
of electric, put paid to the idea. Under the Beeching proposals
the remaining island lines were scheduled for closure apart from
a 1.2 mile section of the IWR from Ryde Pier Head - St. Johns
Road. It was hoped however that a further section of the line
as far as Shanklin could also be reprieved and in 1965 the Minister
of Transport announced that line between Ryde Pier Head - Shanklin
should remain open and be modernised. The remaining section of
the line between Shanklin and Ventnor closed on the 18th April
1966.
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British Railways decided that the line should be electrified
and operated by ex-London Transport tube stock to overcome the
problem of continuing to use the substandard tunnel at Ryde. 43
redundant tube cars were imported and the remaining steam service
between Ryde Pier Head and St. Johns Road was suspended at the
end of 1966 to allow the final stages |
of the third rail electrification
to take place. The tube trains were brought across on the car-ferry
with the passenger service reinstated on 20 March 1967. The line
is still operated by ex-tube stock as the Island
Line.
Since closure there have been numerous proposals to reopen the
line from Shanklin to Wroxall and Ventnor, but none of these plans
seem unlikely to come to fruition. Both stations have been demolished
and the sites redeveloped. Much of the Bembridge branch has been
incorporated into one of the island's cycleways
Other web sites: Invectis.co.uk
web site for more pictures of Ventnor Station
Click here
for further selected reading
To see the other
stations on the Isle of Wight Central Railway line click on the
station name: Bembridge,
St. Helens &
Wroxall
Click here
for Isle of Wight station index
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