3. Stakeholder Consultation

The Study Team have spoken with the Rail Passengers' Committee for Southern England who consider that the railway on the Island should be developed and expanded and supplied papers from the conference held earlier this year in Ryde arranged by the R.P.C. to consider the future of the railway on the Isle of Wight.

The IoW Council arranged an opportunity for the Study Team to meet with various user and interest groups, which augmented the record of their input at the Conference. These bodies included Wight Track, IoW Transport 2000, Ventnor Railway Association and the Isle of Wight Tramway. Although the views of these four bodies differed somewhat in the detail of suggested route alignments and priorities for expansion of the rail system on the Island, there was consensus on a number of key factors:

• the essential requirement to retain the existing Island Line;

• the significant potential non-financial benefit that rail expansion may bring;

• that light rail might bring significant advantage compared with conventional 'heavy rail' solutions including the ability to bypass encroachments on former rail trackbed, together with the possibility of a greater ability to penetrate town centres;

• that joint running with the IoW Steam Railway between Smallbrook and Wootton could be difficult but might be feasible;

• that priorities for rail expansion should include linking Newport, Cowes and Ventnor with Ryde and each other.

The Study Team have met with senior representatives at the IoW Steam Railway. The IoW Steam Railway is a registered educational charity that provides a tourist attraction through recreating the atmosphere of the pre-nationalisation steam railway and this is reflected in the infrastructure and rolling stock used on the line. The railway is operated and maintained largely by a volunteer workforce although there are some paid staff and some work is undertaken by outside contractors. During helpful discussions, the following was established with the IOW Steam Railway:

• There is an aspiration to extend steam train operations beyond Wootton although this is recognised as requiring significant infrastructure works.

• They would be willing to consider the development of a diesel passenger service over their route in addition to existing steam train operations.

• Electrification between Smallbrook and Wootton would probably be impractical on aesthetic and safety grounds, and would be unlikely to gain HMRI approval.

• A track access charge could be levied by the Steam Railway to cover their additional infrastructure maintenance and operating cost for the services.

They could potentially make use of an extension into Newport for steam trains, if a suitable locomotive run round facility were provided. Seam trains would continue to terminate at Smallbrook, unless Island Line was ever to vacate one of the running lines to Ryde St John's Road