Island Line Rail Station, Isle of Wight, UK

Project Overview

GRP Dura Platform panels in conjunction with the Mountbridge™ system from Hammond ecs ltd raised the platform gauge by up to 400mm at 5 stations on the Island Line on the Isle of Wight to improve usage and accessibility, including at Ryde Pier Head Station.

Raising the platform to accommodate new rolling stock.

The Island Line and its associated infrastructure on the Isle of Wight in the UK has recently been upgraded to offer a more frequent service and introduce a refurbished fleet of Class 484 trains.

Key to the project was creating improved accessibility between the train and the station platform to allow the new trains to operate effectively.

This was achieved by deploying GRP Dura Platform panels from Dura Composites in conjunction with the Mountbridge™ system from Hammond ecs ltd to raise the platform gauge by up to 400mm at 5 stations on the Island Line, including Ryde Pier Head.

OSL Global, a UK-based rail engineering and signalling company, was selected to deliver the upgrade of the Island Line under a Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) design and build contract and chose Dura Platform to solve the stepping distance issue between the new planned trains and the platform edge.

The patented 40mm Dura Platform solution (Patent No GB 2 523 381) has a span of 1.5m per 5kN/m2 UDL and delivers multiple benefits in terms of faster, safer and easier installation, reducing time on site, therefore reducing disruption to passengers, and providing major cost savings versus traditional materials such as concrete.

The platform panels can accommodate fully integrated tactile recesses, illumination of the coper and integrated heating to remove frost & ice build up and reduce the future maintenance burden of the platforms.

Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the £26 million pound project was completed late 2021, with the line reopening to serve the 1.5 million passengers who travel on the line each year with a more accessible and future-proof railway service.

Our Specialists

We’re helping to answer the major challenges facing Britain’s railway network such as capacity, reliability and efficiency. Talk to our experienced team about how you can tap into our specialist knowledge and engineering capability for your project.