Railways on the Isle of Wight Railways on the Isle of Wight There once existed a network of railway lines on the Isle of Wight. They were opened by several companies between 1862 and 1901, and all but the Island Line closed between 1952 and 1966. A further have reopened as the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. The first railway to be built on the island ran for a distance of . It was opened in 1833 on the Nash Estate near Yarmouth. Its usage is presumed to have been for transporting brickmaking materials to and from a jetty on the Solent, and it is not
History of the Isle of Wight present-day administrative link with Hampshire is the police service, the Hampshire Constabulary, which is joint between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. From the closing decades of the 20th century onwards, there has been considerable debate on the Island over whether or not a bridge or tunnel should connect the island with mainland England. The Isle of Wight Party campaigned from a positive position, although extensive public debate on the subject revealed a strong body of opinion amongst islanders against such a proposal. In 2002 the Isle of Wight Council debated the issue and made a policy statement against the