Alleged "floating" railway line at Ryde

[JGurney]

In this article: https://metro.co.uk/2025/03/30/aboard-uks-one-a-kind-floating-train-line-set-reopen-soon-22795142/
the Metro claims that Ryde has a "one of a kind floating train line". The reporter seems rather confused about repairs to Ryde Pier. The article also claims that the railway service along the pier was provided by a horse drawn tram until "the arrival of diesel engines in the 1950's".

The report reads;
"An island known for its beaches is set to reopen the UK’s only floating railway station in the coming weeks. The Isle of Wight might be best known for its beaches, the seaside vibe, festivals and fossils – but it is also home to a floating railway, the Island Line. It can make visitors feel like they are somewhere balmier than in the grey UK as they travel the half-a-mile-long line on the Solent strait between Ryder Pier Head and the esplanade. But the sea railway line between the esplanade and the pier head has been closed since September to give it a new lease of life.

The first pier was created because ships struggled to get to Ryde in low tide. It was the brainchild of merchants who realised in 1812 that Ryde could have a long pier, and two years later, the 1,740ft pier was already ready for action. In 1824, it was extended to 2,040 feet, making it a one-of-a-kind structure in Britain. Victorian city dwellers flocked to the beach resort and Ryde grew in popularity. As impressive as the long pier was, its length and popularity as a disembarking point for steam ships meant it needed a way to transport weary passengers. The first transport on the pier was a horse-powered tram before the emergence of diesel engines in the 1950s."

 

[Gloster]

1864-1886 Horse drawn
1886-1927 Third-rail electric
1927-1959 Petrol
1959-1969 Diesel

 

[edwin_m]

Did the tram operate before the railway did, or has it only ever been additional?

 

[Forty29]

This Metro article just popped up on my Google news!

 

[swt_passenger]

Did the tram operate before the railway did, or has it only ever been additional?

1st pier 1814 - extended 1833
2nd pier 1864 - horse tram
3rd pier 1880 - steam railway

 

[JGurney]

I wonder whether this is simply a scheduling error, and the article was supposed to be released two days later.

 

[Russel]

In what possible way can it be described as floating?

 

[sad1e]

1864-1886 Horse drawn
1886-1927 Third-rail electric
1927-1959 Petrol
1959-1969 Diesel

Why was the 3rd rail removed in 1927

 

[JGurney]

In what possible way can it be described as floating?

It can't. Either the journalist made a blunder or this was meant to be released in two days time not today.

 

[Russel]

It can't. Either the journalist made a blunder or this was meant to be released in two days time not today.

I think it says more about the state of journalism these days, every article has to have a misleading, clickbait title, at least, on certain news outlets...

 

[Gostav]

Maybe it was just a lack of common sense on the part of the reporter, who saw a photo of the pier and thought the structure is completely floating on the sea.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

Maybe she’s one of those rather misinformed people who think that islands are floating geological structures as well.

 

[Russel]

Maybe it was just a lack of common sense on the part of the reporter, who saw a photo of the pier and thought the structure is completely floating on the sea.

Yet mentions the word 'Pier' multiple times during the article...

 

[edwin_m]

Yet mentions the word 'Pier' multiple times during the article...

It's possible to have a floating pier.

 

[generalnerd]

Maybe it come from that the tracks themselves aren’t on the peir, at least from the perspective of somebody who isn’t a rail enthusiast.

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Why was the 3rd rail removed in 1927

The equipment and cars were becoming life expired and it proved cheaper to replace them with petrol cars.

 

[DarloRich]

Yet mentions the word 'Pier' multiple times during the article...

that assumes you know what a pier is...........

( it is most likely just a misunderstanding of the situation)

Maybe it was just a lack of common sense on the part of the reporter, who saw a photo of the pier and thought the structure is completely floating on the sea.

exactly!

 

[AndrewE]

It's possible to have a floating pier.

in which case it is a pontoon instead. Like a suspension bridge, I guess a pontoon would be equally unsuited to supporting a railway.

 

[MarkyT]

in which case it is a pontoon instead. Like a suspension bridge, I guess a pontoon would be equally unsuited to supporting a railway.

There are floating bridges in Seattle carrying major roads. One was retrofitted with light rail tracks recently.

 

[Foxhunter]

Like a suspension bridge, I guess a pontoon would be equally unsuited to supporting a railway.

The Hong Kong Tsing Ma Bridge says hello.

 

[Gloster]

1st pier 1814 - extended 1833
2nd pier 1864 - horse tram
3rd pier 1860 - steam railway

The railway didn’t open between Esplanade and Pier Head until 1880.

 

[swt_passenger]

The railway didn’t open between Esplanade and Pier Head until 1880.

Sorry that was a typo, my reference did say 1880. I’ll fix my post...

Anyway, this article gives a potted history of the pier trams:

The Ryde Pier tramway commenced service on 29th August 1864 as a standard gauge horse line (after a brief trial with a Manning, Wardle steam loco) with two cars, others being added a little later, a mixture of double and single-deckers. It was double track with a crossover and turntables at the end to reverse trams. On 28th January 1870 the line was extended beyond the pier and through the streets via the Esplanade to Ryde Castle and then on 7th August 1871 continued to St. John's Road steam railway station, bringing the length of the tramway to about 1.5 miles and making it a true street tramway. To serve this extension, the horse car fleet was expanded with additional trams, mostly double-deckers from Starbuck although in time these were cut down to single deck and used as trailers etc. By 1880 the steam railway had been extended to the pier, so the now unnecessary street running was cut back to the pier gates and the street tracks lifted around 1886. In 1876 there was a three-month trial of a Merryweather steam tram pulling horse car trailers. In 1881 two Starbuck cars were converted into Bradley steam trams which for three years pulled horse cars as trailers.

{continues…}

Tramway Information

www.tramwayinfo.com

 

[edwin_m]

The Hong Kong Tsing Ma Bridge says hello.

Also the bridge over the Tagus near Lisbon. However, suspension bridges typically need extra strengthening to make them more rigid if carrying a railway.

 

[AndrewE]

That is a big bridge! I imagine that the stiffness needed for the railway line is provided by the depth of the double-deck box, which Wikipedia says has the railway lines below with a carriageway between them for use when the weather means the top deck is closed.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Maybe she’s one of those rather misinformed people who think that islands are floating geological structures as well.

She'll be really confused when someone explains the Chat Moss line to her won't she...?!

 

[Gloster]

The journalist is described as a ‘senior news reporter with a keen interest in urban transport’ on Metro’s site. Well, whatever she knows about urban transport she appears to know b. all about transport beyond the end of the Northern Line; I don’t think that the fact that she is Finnish is an explanation or excuse. At first I though they had just received the Network Rail press release, thrown it at the nearest journo and told them to use Wikipedia to pad it out as a filler. The trouble is that ‘newsrooms’ have been so slashed that all the competent staff have gone, leaving leaving you with too few and insufficiently experienced staff.

 

[SussexSeagull]

Not quite floating but the Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway.

'The Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway was a unique coastline railway in Brighton, England, that ran through the shallow coastal waters of the English Channel between 1896 and 1901.[1] It was designed by Magnus Volk to extend his Volk's Electric Railway from its terminus in Paston Place to the village of Rottingdean and avoid difficult terrain. While the railway was popular and carried tens of thousands of passengers, it was ultimately abandoned to make room for new sea defences, and Volk was unable to raise the funds to construct a replacement.'

 

[Sun Chariot]

There are floating bridges in Seattle carrying major roads. One was retrofitted with light rail tracks recently.

I drove over the Evergreen Point Floating bridge (WA route 520) several times, back in 1996, as I was staying in Bellevue and it was the logical way to downtown Seattle, Tacoma, etc. 8 traffic lanes and seemingly driving at water's surface level. Bonkers!

 

[AndrewE]

I wonder whether this is simply a scheduling error, and the article was supposed to be released two days later.

In what possible way can it be described as floating?

or maybe this is the sortof stuff produced by AI as page-filling clickbait, with nobody sufficiently intelligent or well-educated to see through it before it is published?

 

[MarkyT]

A writer might have reasonably described the pier and station appearing to float on the sea without diverging from the truth. I don't see where they would have obtained the notion of them actually floating though. That's what makes me think it might have been a prank gone wrong, as others suggested.

or maybe this is the sortof stuff produced by AI as page-filling clickbait, with nobody sufficiently intelligent or well-educated to see through it before it is published?

Again where on earth would an AI get the notion the pier floats? Maybe a case of hallucination!