Reflections: Failed tunnel visions for train from New Forest to Isle of Wight

An early reference to the Solent tunnel can be found in a letter to The Times dated 23rd July 1881. The correspondent, using the pseudonym of Sea-Sick, reported that eminent engineer Mr. C. Vignoles had, after much investigation, concluded that a tunnel connecting the island to the mainland “might easily be made under the bed of the Solent” and that “it would pay a good return on the cost”.

Soon after, a letter from a Mr Thomas Price was published in The Times stating that an engineer named Hamilton Fulton had spent much of 1880 carrying out surveys and creating detailed plans, including “Parliamentary notices for an application for an act for the construction of a railway from Southampton to the Isle of Wight”.

The proposed route of the tunnel would have been from Lepe beach to Cowes. The correspondent stated that if this project went ahead, it would reduce the travel time from Ventnor to Waterloo by one-and-a-half hours.

The Isle of Wight Observer published an article on 5th January 1901 stating that a new company was being formed called the South Western and Isle of Wight Junction Railway Company. The five main promoters, who would eventually become directors of the new company, were named as The Right Honourable Earl of Egmont, Sir John Blundell Maple MP, Messers Frank G. Aman, Richard W Evelyn Middleton and R. Cunningham Murray. Mr Aman was the owner of the Totland Hotel on the island.

A short article published in Scientific American on 30th March 1901 stated that the idea for a tunnel to the Isle of Wight had first been mooted 15 years previously. On that occasion, the tunnel was planned to run from the mainland to Cowes. This plan had been abandoned because of “many engineering difficulties that would have been encountered”.

The article went on to say that the tunnel would penetrate the bed of the Solent near Hurst Castle and emerge on the Island at Totland Bay. The first section of the tunnel at the Hurst Castle end would be constructed of circular iron plates bolted together to form a tube similar to the Central London Electrical Railway, but of a much larger dimension.

Once the tunnel was well below the sea bed it would be made of bricks. The article concluded that it was anticipated no objections would be proffered by the military authorities as the new railway line and tunnel would allow the garrison on the island to be rapidly reinforced and kept supplied.

On 26th July 1901, an act of parliament was passed. This was given the short title of The South Western and Isle of Wight Junction Railway Act 1901. The act gave very precise details for the construction and running of the new railway line and tunnel. The measurements for the length of the new line were given as seven miles, four furlongs and 75 yards.

The tunnel under the Solent would be two miles, 500 yards long. The legislation gave the company powers to compulsorily purchase land to enable the line to be built. However, the power to make such purchases was limited in time to three years after the act had been passed. Page eight of the act gives details of height and span of a new bridge to be built at Sway and alterations to roads in Sway and Milford.

The act extinguished rights of way over those roads and on the foreshore where the tunnel was to be located. Clause 33 of the act prohibited the company from purchasing more than 10 houses belonging to or rented by “the labouring class”, unless they provided new homes for them and those dwellings were approved by the Local Government Board.

If the company failed to comply with this clause, it would be fined £500 for each house it had illegally purchased. Clause 34 of the act stated that if the line was not completed within seven years from the passing of the act, then the powers granted in this piece of legislation would cease.

The act stipulated that the electrification of the line must meet with the approval of the His Majesty’s Post-Master General and should not interfere with the telegraph cables running alongside existing railway lines. Section 44 stated that if the railway line was not completed, the company must compensate landowners whose property had been “interfered with or otherwise rendered less valuable by the commencement, construction or abandonment of the railway”.

Sections 46, 47 and 48 specified maximum charges for the carriage of merchandise, small parcels and passengers. First class passengers could be charged a maximum of three pence per mile. Second class passengers were capped at two pence a mile, while third class passengers could not be charged more than a penny a mile.

Section 58 of the act required, before the opening of the line, the approval of the War Department ensuring that appropriate guard rooms and roller bridges had been installed at both ends of the tunnel to enable it to be blocked if necessary. The municipal jurisdiction of the Parish of Milford was extended to the centre point of the tunnel under the Solent, and the jurisdiction of the Parish of Freshwater was similarly extended to cover the other half of the tunnel.

The act concludes by stating that an electricity-generating station could be built on 20 acres of land on the north western side of Keyhaven Marshes.

Clearly things did not go according to plan as the Isle of Wight Observer reported on 2nd January 1904 that the South Western and Isle of Wight Junction Railway were about to apply to parliament for an extension of time on the powers to purchase land up to 26th July 1906, and also for permission to extend the time limit for completion of the tunnel until July 1911.

On 25th May 1913, The Daily Mail reported that there were now two proposals being considered for tunnels, one in the west and one on the east end of the island. There were also plans for a train ferry to Cowes.

Local writer and historian Fred Turton published in 1953 A Solent Tunnel? The History of the Solent Tunnel Scheme. He suggested that a lack of co-operation between the various small train companies on the island, no guarantee of being able to raise the necessary capital and the death of Sir John Blundell Maple, one of the early champions of a tunnel connection, delayed the construction of the tunnel.

By the time war was declared in 1914 there was no appetite for the scheme. Mr Turton wrote that Mr Aman, another backer of the 1901 tunnel scheme, was given a great deal of criticism by other businessmen on the island who felt that he wanted the tunnel to emerge in the west of the island to favour his hotel business in Totland.

On 5th October 1918, the Isle of Wight Observer commented that “like the sea serpent and the enormous gooseberry, the Solent Tunnel comes to the fore again”. The preferred route was now from Portsmouth or Gosport to Ryde, where there were ready-made train connections with the rest of the island. The article acknowledged that having a tunnel would be an immense advantage to the Isle of Wight, especially in wintertime.

On 13th September 1919, The Times reported the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce had discussed the various merits of a tunnel or a train ferry and would ask the chair of the Isle of Wight County Council to make a presentation to the Ministry of Transport regarding their recommendations. The Times on 29th July 1920 reported that a deputation from the Isle of Wight had been received by the minister for transport Sir Eric Geddes.

They put the case to the ministry that the present method of transport by steamer was “inadequate and out of date”, and urged that a tunnel be built connecting the island to the mainland. Sir Eric Geddes replied to the deputation saying that the cost of a tunnel was estimated to be about £2,000,000. He asked the group to research the prospective traffic use for the tunnel to see if it was economically viable.

A report in The Times on 23rd June 1927 stated that The Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce had discussed the options of a tunnel, a bridge or more frequent ferries. The chairman, Mr Hollis Fowler, had met with the chief engineer for the Ministry of Transport, who had said it was for the local authority to initiate such a scheme and that if it was shown to be “practicable and desirable” it would be given central government grants.

The prospect of a tunnel was revived again in January 1929. The Times reported that the IOW Chamber of Commerce was once again asking the public authorities for backing for a scheme. Mr Aman was quoted in the article as saying that the majority of the islanders wanted a tunnel. It would double the value of property on the island and bring prosperity to the local residents.

He went on to say that he had received information to suggest that had there been a tunnel to the island in the reign of King Edward VII, Osbourne would still be a royal residence. Mr Aman had balloted the entire island asking them if they were in favour of a tunnel to the mainland, yes or no. The majority of the islanders voted yes. But Mr Turton wrote that when it came to putting their hands in their pockets to fund a tunnel through an increase in the rates, “people put them in their pockets and kept them there!” There was no local appetite to fund a tunnel.

In March 1930, newspapers both national and local reported that the IOW County Council had accepted a government report which stated that the plan to build a tunnel to the island was economically impracticable. The Ministry of Transport advised that it was such a low priority the scheme would not attract suitable grants from central funding.

On 22nd January 1938, Mr Aman, the most vocal proponent of a tunnel scheme, died, and the plans for a tunnel to link the island to the mainland appeared to have died with him. In 1955, there was consideration given to a toll bridge but nothing came of it. In 1994 it was reported in The Times that a plan to build a three-mile concrete tunnel which would sit on top of the sea bed was being proposed.

The tunnel would run from Ryde to Gosport and would cost £61-million. The project tried to raise £300,000 for a feasibility study but no further progress was made. In 2014 a group called Pro-Link began promoting a feasibility study into the construction of a toll tunnel for the island.

Optimistically, Mr Turton concluded his 1953 booklet by stating: “One thing I believe to be certain: the TUNNEL WILL COME, either in the near or distant future.”