We have here in the Isle of Wight a railway which runs from the end of the pier in Ryde to the top of the chine in Shanklin, with a station down the end of our road here in Brading. A very cheap and convenient way to get about the eastern end of the island.
The service is run by Southwest Trains using rolling stock handed down from the Waterloo & City Line, at least that is the story I remember. A roughly half hourly service in both directions.
Today, on our way home from Ryde, we read that the service is under threat. Not very clear about from where the threat is coming, but it might be that responsibility is being transferred, without financial provision, from central to local government. And leaving the question of provision aside, given particularly that the island is an island, cut off from the rest of the nation's railway network, perhaps it would be right for the decisions to be made locally.
Looking at the Island council budget, I find a total annual spend of around £300m, with the central government contribution falling by £30m over the past five years and with need rising by about the same amount over the same period. Clearly something has to give.
Of which total, the transport budget is presently around £27m. With income of £25m, whatever that might mean.
The operating cost of the railway, that is to say excluding longer term maintenance, is £3m a year. Fares provide just £1m a year, leaving the balance to be covered by subsidy. A lack of longer term maintenance shows in shabby carriages and a bumpy ride. But one puts up with that; the service is cheap and convenient. And it appears to be well used; not London rush hour, but one sometimes has to stand.
For ourselves, we would be sorry to lose the railway. But who knows what the council ought to do, given the other demands on its services.
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