IWC Rail
reopening study stakeholder consultation – IWBRUG response
The Isle of Wight Bus and Rail Users’ Group (IWBRUG) is
pleased to respond to the stakeholder consultation as part of the study of
options for the future development of railways on the Island.
The IWBRUG has XX members and exists to promote the
interests of bus and rail users in the Island and to campaign for improvements
in public transport. We work to improve the lot of those for whom it is a
necessity and to encourage its wider use.
Our interests range from the general, such as concessionary fares, to
the particular, such as co-ordination between bus and ferry services
and Island Line trains, down to the detail of specific routes in local
districts.
We hold members' meetings every month in Newport and twice a
year - (normally January and July) - we organise a public meeting, where
representatives of the bus and train operators and the council attend to
address the public, answer questions and outline service changes.
The options under consideration are re-opening of the routes
from Ryde – Newport and Shanklin – Ventnor.
We would like to make the following comments and suggestions regarding
these options.
Ryde – Newport
The Ryde – Newport corridor currently has a good bus service
which runs every 10 minutes. The most
serious issue affecting public transport travel on the corridor is the traffic
queuing delay westbound on Fairlee Road and Staplers approaching Coppins Bridge
junction, as shown in the picture below.
This delay has caused bus travel times to increase from 30 minutes in
2005 to 35 minutes in 2020 and up to 42 minutes in the morning peak. This also affect travel from East Cowes –
Newport. Any improvements on this
corridor should provide quicker public transport travel times for most
passengers.
A reopened railway could provide a fast direct link from the
Newport to Ryde Esplanade and Pier Head for onward connections to the
mainland. In 2020 electric trains
achieved an average speed of 23.7mph between Ryde St John’s Road and Shanklin. If the new rail route could achieve this
between Ryde St John’s Road and Newport, then a 23-minute journey from Ryde
Esplanade would be possible. This would
represent a 45% travel time saving compared with the present morning peak bus
journey of 42 minutes.
However, travel from Ryde Esplanade and Per to Newport
comprises only a small proportion of demand on the corridor. This was shown in 1986 when Southern Vectis
introduced an hourly express minibus service from Ryde Pier Head to Newport,
connecting with the ferry. This service
proved not to be commercially sustainable and was withdrawn. There is therefore unlikely to be sufficient
demand for travel between these locations to warrant a new rail service.
A large majority of the bus passengers on the corridor board
at stops in the west Ryde, Binstead and Wootton Bridge areas, which would not
be served by a reopened railway. A
railway would not therefore improve conditions for most of the travellers on
the corridor. We do not believe it to be
the best option for improving public transport in the area.
We believe that a better option would be to utilise part of
the old Ryde – Newport railway alignment parallel to Fairlee Road from the
solar energy panels to Halberry lane, to provide a westbound guided busway as
shown in the map in Figure 1 below. This
would enable buses to by-pass 0.9km of road on which there is often a queue of
traffic, particularly during the morning peak period.
As the original railway line was only single track, there is
probably only space available for one lane of busway, together with a parallel
cycle route. However, the eastbound
buses are much less delayed on this section and could therefore continue to use
Fairlee Road.
Access for passengers to the Medina College and Leisure
Centre, a major trip attraction, will be essential. A stop on the busway with pedestrian access
would need to be provided.
West of Halberry lane the railway alignment has been
encroached upon by residential properties, which would probably prevent its use
for a busway. However, possible new
routes for buses from Halberry Lane into Newport, aimed at reducing travel
times by avoiding queuing delays, should be investigated. Possibilities might include:
·
A diversion via Seaclose and Newport Quay as
shown in Figure 2 below; and
·
A diversion for westbound buses via Halberry
Lane and Victoria Road, as shown in Figure 3 below.
These measures could reduce travel times to Newport for
passengers from Ryde and also East Cowes on route 5 by up to 7 minutes in the
morning peak. The resulting saving in resources (buses and drivers) could also
help to enable service frequencies to be increased on routes from Ryde and East
Cowes to Newport - reducing waiting times at stops for passengers.
