Sandown railway station
Encyclopedia
Sandown railway station is a railway station serving Sandown
Sandown
Sandown is a seaside resort town and civil parish on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, neighbouring the town of Shanklin to the south. Sandown Bay is the name of the bay off the English Channel which both towns share, and it is notable for its long stretch of easily accessible...

 on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

. It is located on the Island Line
Island Line, Isle of Wight
The Island Line is a railway line on the Isle of Wight, running some from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin down the eastern side of the island. The line was electrified in 1967. Trains connect with passenger ferries to Portsmouth Harbour at Ryde Pier Head, and these ferries in turn connect with the...

 from Ryde
Ryde
Ryde is a British seaside town, civil parish and the most populous town and urban area on the Isle of Wight, with a population of approximately 30,000. It is situated on the north-east coast. The town grew in size as a seaside resort following the joining of the villages of Upper Ryde and Lower...

 to Shanklin
Shanklin
Shanklin is a popular seaside resort and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, England, located on the east coast's Sandown Bay. The sandy beach, its Old Village and a wooded ravine, Shanklin Chine, are its main attractions. The esplanade along the beach is occupied by hotels and restaurants for the...

.

History

Sandown station is presently a double platform-faced through station. However, from the mid 19th until the mid 20th century it was a junction station
Junction station
Junction station usually refers to a railway station situated or close to a junction where lines to several destinations diverge. The usual minimum is three incoming lines...

, also served by trains to and from Horringford
Horringford (Isle of Wight) railway station
Horringford railway station was an intermediate station situated on the edge of Horringford village on the line from Newport to Sandown incorporated by the Isle of Wight and Newport Junction Railway in 1868. The station was opened in 1875 and closed 81 years later in 1956...

, Merstone
Merstone (Isle of Wight) railway station
Merstone railway station, was an intermediate station situated on the edge of Merstone village on the line from Newport to Sandown incorporated by the Isle of Wight and Newport Junction Railway in 1868 , opened in 1875 and closed 81 years later...

, Newport
Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...

 and Cowes
Cowes
Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...

. These lines were originally run by separate companies, the Isle of Wight Railway
Isle of Wight Railway
The Isle of Wight Railway was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The company owned 14 miles of railway line and its headquarters were at Sandown...

 (Ryde-Ventnor
Ventnor
Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...

) and the Isle of Wight Central Railway
Isle of Wight Central Railway
The Isle of Wight Central Railway was a railway company on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. At its peak the company owned 21½ miles of railway line, and it also operated trains on some additional lines it did not own. Trains were first run on what became its lines in 1862, although the company...

 (Newport-Sandown).
The adjacent land formerly occupied by coal-yards is now a housing estate and the former Terminus Hotel pub opposite has long been a private house.
The line from Ryde to Shanklin was constructed between 1862 and 1864, and opened to passenger traffic on 23 August 1864 .
The original station building was extended between 1870 and 1871 through the addition of a two-storey extension to act as station offices.

In 1923, with the Grouping
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...

, came the formation of the Southern Railway. This was to mean that all the railway services on the Island were now under one management. This brought considerable modernisation, but did not initially affect the services offered, although eventually the line from Ryde gained a more frequent service whilst the Merstone line declined. One particular feature of the Merstone line was the School Train, which was subsidised by the local authority, and for a significant time meant that the line remained viable. When the line was closed, children from outlying villages going to the Sandown Schools were then transported by bus, the current situation.

Services

The present level of service is normally 2 trains per hour (tph) each way, which must pass at Sandown. However, due to the reduced trackwork at Brading
Brading railway station
Brading railway station is a railway station serving Brading on the Isle of Wight. It is located on the Island Line from Ryde to Shanklin.- History :...

, the frequency does not produce a predictable 30-minute service. Instead, in common with the rest of Island Line
Island Line, Isle of Wight
The Island Line is a railway line on the Isle of Wight, running some from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin down the eastern side of the island. The line was electrified in 1967. Trains connect with passenger ferries to Portsmouth Harbour at Ryde Pier Head, and these ferries in turn connect with the...

, trains run separated by a 20 or 40 minute gap.

This generally means that every hour, trains will pass at Sandown once. A journey from Sandown to Shanklin generally takes 6 minutes (although the published timetable allows 7), with a bus connection to Ventnor adding another 20 minutes. Trains to Ryde take about 10 minutes (to St. John's Road
Ryde St John's Road railway station
Ryde St John's Road is a railway station on the Island Line, and serves the town of Ryde, Isle of Wight. The station is south of Ryde Pier Head—the Island Line's northern terminus. When the station opened in 1864, it was known as Ryde railway station, as it was the northern terminus of the...

) or just under 20 minutes (to Ryde Pier Head
Ryde Pier Head railway station
Ryde Pier Head railway station is one of three stations in the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Situated at the end of the town's pier, it is adjacent to the terminal for the Wightlink fast catamaran service connecting the island with Portsmouth on the UK mainland...

).

External links

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