Train enthusiasts from around the country came to the Isle of Wight to ride on the new Island Line Class 484 trains this morning.
When News OnTheWight reporters boarded the 6.15am service at Shanklin this morning it was notable that most, if not all of the passengers who were arriving from Ryde didn’t leave the station. The reason being that they were a mixture of train enthusiasts from the Island and further afield, SWR officials, Island Line staff and representatives of Vivarail, the company who refurbished the trains.
Dedicated train enthusiasts
The dedication of train fans is legendary, so News OnTheWight was pleased to chat to a couple of them to learn what they thoughts of the new trains and where they’d travelled from – one had got up at 1.30am this morning to ride the 100+ miles from Canterbury, way east, in Kent.
Near miss at Salisbury
Another, who had made the journey from Exeter yesterday, said he had been only ten seconds ahead of the train crash in Salisbury tunnel yesterday, passing the actual train that came off the rails. The closest he said he’d been to an accident after having travelled on trains the whole of his 77 year life.
After the four hours he was delayed (after they switched the power off to enable emergency services to rescue those on the crashed trains) he missed the last boat to the Island, so had to stay in Portsmouth overnight and catch the first boat over at 4am-ish.
Hear the podcast
Listen to them talking about their experience and:
- Their thoughts on the new trains
- The trains previous lives on London’s District line
- Missing the Brading Bounce of the previous trains
