Ventnor Funicular Railway (Proposed) Central Station

In 1887, a concept was proposed for a funicular railway called the “Ventnor Lift,” which would employ a steam engine to power a continuous belt and go between the esplanade and the top of the slope.

John H. Blakeley proposed the ‘Ventnor Incline’ in 1891, which would have connected the beach and train station. The Isle of Wight Railway (IWR) agreed to help, and the city council preferred building an extension all the way to the summit. The project bombed because nobody in town cared about it.

In 1897, Mrs. Caroline Evens, a prominent local resident, announced her intention to donate the property she owned above St. Boniface Down to the city.

After being pushed by the IWR and the Urban District Council to apply to the board of trade for a light railway order, the Ventnor Inclined (Light) Railway Company was established in 1897. Three lines of that length and a half were proposed.

In 1899, the application was accepted, but by 1903, only £7 (1k) of the required £20,920 (£3,478,855 in today’s money) had been obtained, and the powers had expired.

• The Isle of Wight Railway by R.J.Maycock and R.Silsbury
• Image curtsey of the J Mackett Collection, it shows a number of proposed concepts for the tunnels, undated.