Island Line shuts for month of track renewals as 700m relay follows full closure

Network Rail Wessex and South Western Railway have closed the Isle of Wight's Island Line between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin from today, 31 October, until Sunday 15 November, in the first of two closures for track and signalling renewals.

Network Rail said maintenance teams would use the full closure to carry out track repairs and improve rail alignment across the route. A second, partial closure between Ryde Pier Head and Ryde St Johns Road will follow from Monday 16 to Sunday 29 November, during which engineers will install 700 metres of new track.

Trains will keep running between Ryde St Johns Road and Shanklin during the second phase, Network Rail said. Buses replace trains on the closed sections throughout.

Mark Dunn, Island Line General Manager for South Western Railway and Network Rail Wessex, said: "These annual line closures allow us to carry out a large programme of maintenance and improvement work that will keep customers moving for the rest of the year, particularly during the busy summer months."

The scope

Network Rail's project page for the works sets out a wider programme than the press release. Alongside the track renewal, which the project page describes as a full renewal of about 700m of track between Ryde Tunnel and Ryde St Johns Road on the line towards Shanklin, engineers will refurbish the interlocking at Ryde St Johns Road signal box, the part of the signalling that sets routes for trains.

The programme also includes work to the footbridge to Hover Travel at Ryde Esplanade and completion of work on the Ryde St Johns Road footbridge, according to Network Rail. Tamping, which lifts the track and consolidates and aligns the ballast beneath it, will be carried out along the whole line.

Work is also continuing underneath Ryde Pier to strengthen its metallic structure and prolong its life, the project page states.

Network Rail said the renewals would reduce the need for short-notice maintenance and help deliver a more reliable service for passengers travelling towards the mainline and ferry port. It described the work as part of South Western Railway's Improving your railway plan.

Ryde St Johns Road station and its car park are closed from 31 October to 15 November so that temporary offices for engineers can be installed there.

Thirty of the track panels lifted from the line will be donated to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, which runs from Smallbrook Junction, Network Rail said. The Steam Railway's own website records that Smallbrook Junction station, where it meets the Island Line, was built in 1991 by Network South East, and that SWR's Customer and Communities Improvement Fund has given £40,000 towards its Smallbrook Connections project.

Replacement buses

During the first phase, Network Rail's press release says, buses replace trains between Ryde Pier Head and Ryde Esplanade, and between Ryde Esplanade and Shanklin, calling at Ryde St Johns Road, Brading, Sandown and Lake.

For the second phase the press release says buses replace trains between Ryde Esplanade and Ryde St Johns Road, while Network Rail's project page gives the bus section as Ryde Pier Head to Ryde St Johns Road. SWR's own engineering works page says the Island Line is affected by engineering work from 31 October to 29 November inclusive.

Second autumn blockade in a row

This is the second consecutive autumn that the line has been closed for a renewals programme. Network Rail described last year's closures as a £3.5m investment, with full services resuming on 17 November 2025 after a month of full and partial closures.

In 2025 engineers replaced the rail between Ryde Esplanade and Ryde St Johns Road through Ryde Tunnel, where Network Rail said pumps are needed to keep the line dry and conditions are among the most extreme in the country. The 2025 programme also replaced the switches and crossings at Ryde Esplanade and tamped the whole line.

George Murrell, Wessex route renewals director, said at the time that closing the whole line had allowed extensive maintenance and assessments across the route.

The closures follow the £26m upgrade of the Island Line, for which SWR said the line was closed in 2021 and which was funded by the Department for Transport, Isle of Wight Council and Solent Local Enterprise Partnership. That scheme replaced the 82-year-old fleet of 1938 tube trains, which had served the Island since 1989, with Vivarail's Class 484 trains, refurbished former London Underground stock, and installed a new passing loop at Brading, new signalling equipment, electrical upgrades and raised platforms at many stations.

Network Rail published advance notice of this autumn's closures on 7 October 2026. Its project page gives the renewal work as running from Saturday 31 October to Sunday 29 November 2026.