Welcome to the Isle of Wight Community Rail Partnership
Connecting Communities • Discovering Our Island • Creating Lasting Social Value
The Isle of Wight Community Rail Partnership CIC is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company that brings people together through the railway.
For more than 20 years we have worked with Island Line, Wightlink, Southern Vectis, Network Rail, local authorities, businesses, schools, volunteers and community organisations to create opportunities that improve lives, strengthen communities and encourage people to discover everything our Island has to offer.
Working in partnership, we use Community Rail to encourage sustainable travel, improve accessibility, celebrate our Island's unique heritage, support health and wellbeing, and create lasting social value for the people and places we serve. By bringing together rail, bus, ferry, walking and cycling, we help create seamless journeys that connect people with communities, opportunities and experiences across the Isle of Wight.
More Than a Railway
The Island Line runs between Ryde Pier Head and Shanklin, serving eight unique stations and providing an important transport link for residents and visitors. Operating the Class 484 fleet, it offers one of Britain's most distinctive railway journeys.
But Community Rail is about much more than trains.
It is about people.
Every station is a gateway to somewhere special.
From Ryde's historic pier and ferry connections, to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway at Smallbrook Junction, Brading Marshes RSPB Nature Reserve, Sandown's beaches and dinosaur heritage, and Shanklin's famous Old Village and Chine, every journey offers an opportunity to discover the people, places and stories that make the Isle of Wight unique.
As one of the UK's designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, the Isle of Wight provides a unique setting where Community Rail helps people connect with nature, heritage and place while encouraging sustainable travel and supporting resilient communities.
We believe great journeys don't start or finish at the station — they continue into our communities, landscapes and lives.
Community at the Heart
Everything we do is guided by the four pillars of Community Rail:
- Giving communities a voice.
- Promoting sustainable, healthy and accessible travel.
- Bringing communities together and supporting inclusion.
- Supporting social, environmental and economic development.
Whether we are helping someone travel independently for the first time, supporting people back into employment, working with schools, celebrating local heritage, improving station environments or delivering creative community projects, our goal is always the same — to create opportunities that make a lasting difference.
Our station adopters play an invaluable role in helping stations remain welcoming gateways to their communities, while our partners enable us to deliver projects that inspire confidence, reduce isolation, support education, celebrate culture, encourage volunteering and strengthen community pride.
Looking Forward
As an accredited Community Rail Partnership, we continue to develop innovative projects that inspire people to travel sustainably, discover new places and become active participants in their communities.
Whether you are travelling for work, education, leisure or simply to explore, we invite you to discover our railway, our communities and our Island.
Community Rail is about more than journeys by train.
It is about the people, partnerships and communities those journeys bring together.