Why do old London tube trains run on the Isle of Wight?

Question

Why do old London tube trains run on the Isle of Wight?

Answer 1

They're reliable and there's a plentiful supply.

Answer 2

The train operating company opted to buy them as they were cheap & reliable.

Answer 3

London Underground trains run on the Isle of Wight railway simply because there is a tunnel under the "front" (The Esplanade) in Ryde which is not built to main line standards regarding size, and when the time came to retire the steam trains, ex Central line stock was the only thing available that would fit through that tunnel, so they purchased a number of them (their age dating from between 1923 and 1932!) and rebuilt them to the then Southern Region third rail (electrical) system, and they ran on the line until quite by coincidence, London Underground were replacing the 1938 tube stock on the Northern and Bakerloo lines with new trains making some of the "much newer" stock (which itself was now coming up to over thirty years old!) available so that was refurbished to suit the IoW system and shipped over there to replace the (now) ancient stuff over there - so the real answer is that it was cheaper for them to buy second-hand tube stock rather than rebuild the tunnel under Ryde Esplanade ! ! !

Answer 4

Cost, it was much cheaper to buy worn out stock from London Transport than to modify anything else or even build new for a line that BR wanted to close. That the line is still running is quite remarkable just a shame that the rest of the lines were closed and steam withdrawn. Kept operated by steam the line would have drawn people to the area and the more people using the service the less subsidy required to keep the line open.

Answer 5

There is not much of a railway to talk about.

They are old trains.

They came cheap

They are reliable.

The kind of people who go to the Isle of Wight remember them from their childhood.

Answer 6

Because they bought them.

Answer 7

its because they are Lost..........................

Answer 8

because they cant afford anything else, and the tunnels around Ryde are too small for conventional rolling stock