Isle of Wight ferry services Isle of Wight ferry services There are currently three different ferry companies that operate vessels carrying passengers and, on certain routes, vehicles across the Solent, the stretch of sea that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England. These are Wightlink, Red Funnel and Hovertravel. Since the Isle of Wight was separated from mainland Britain, probably about 7000 years ago, vessels have transported people and goods across the Solent. However the earliest record of an Isle of Wight ferry service is from 1420 when the Lord of the Manor in Ashey was responsible for boats crossing between Portsmouth and Ryde.
Transport on the Isle of Wight emerged. It has made a number of claims on its Facebook group and local news media that it maintains to have changed attitudes to the idea of a permanent link from the island of Great Britain to the Isle of Wight. Able Connections Ltd was set up to arrange a feasibility study for the Fixed Link plans that PRO-LINK had initially developed. Discussions with the mainland and island authorities are still continuing. Transport on the Isle of Wight The Island Line is the one railway left on the island. It runs some 8½ miles from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin,