Between Friday 30 October 2022 and Monday 10 July 2023 we successfully carried out major maintenance work on the Isle of Wight’s historic Ryde Pier.
What did we do?
For nine months engineers braved the elements and worked around the clock to strengthen the 143-year-old, 686-metre-long Victorian pier and return the steel structure to its former glory.
As part of this work, engineers have installed a new weather screen to protect customers while they wait at Ryde Pier Head station, replaced 172 metres of track, and installed 143 metres of new steel rail bearers, as well giving the station a new lick of paint.
There is still some further work to do including upgrading the final part of the track using composite sleepers instead of wood, which are more resilient to the extreme weather and will keep customers moving for many years to come.
More details will be announced about this work as soon as the dates are confirmed.
About Ryde Pier
The railway structure of the pier was built between 1878 and 1880. Its platforms are owned by Network Rail and the line is leased to SWR.
In 1962 it was strengthened with new steelwork and in 2012 and 2013 it underwent emergency repairs. In 2016 a study recommended that it be repaired and refurbished to continue to support Island Line services for a further 60 years.
The Victorian-era design and construction of the Pier, which is split into six different ‘zones’ with five different designs, makes it difficult to maintain. Our engineers needed to use a variety of different methods to strengthen and repair the Pier, which took a significant amount of time.
Contact us
For more information or to get in touch with us, please contact us by visiting our contact us page or by calling our 24-hour national helpline on 03457 11 41 41.