Walking Britain's Islands by Rail
Most of Britain's larger islands are reachable by train and ferry. This article describes some of them. Jersey and Guernsey, which are also reachable by train and ferry, used to have their own railways, but both of them closed in the 1930s . Alderney still has a steam railway, run by volunteers. Only two islands still have full-time railway services: the Isle of Wight and the Isle of Man. Both of them offer fantastic opportunities for coastal walking, as we have discovered. The Isle of Wight The link between the Isle of Wight and the mainland is one of the few remaining examples of fully joined-up public transport in Britain. Mainland trains run to Portsmouth Harbour station, which also incorporates the Wightlink ferry terminal. At the other end, Ryde Pier still performs its original function, berthing the ferries at the Pier Head, which also has a station on the Island Line. The Island Line runs for 8.5 miles from Ryde to Shanklin. It us...