Isle of Man Railway Services

Railways on the Isle of Man are not part of the National Rail Network, but are a unique heritage railway system.  Many preserved railways operate around the world.  Usually the railway will close, it will be taken over by a group or preservationists who will spend many years painstakingly recreating what has been lost, often taking in trains, track and even buildings from other locations.  The Isle of Man is different.  It's railways are original, they simply didn't stop.  What you see is the very same railways, stations and trains that have been taking visitors and locals around the island since the 19th century.  Enjoy this working Victorian transport network, unique in the world. 

General Information

Nearest Rail Station - Take ferry from Liverpool or Heysham Harbour.  Through tickets including rail and ferry travel are available from staffed railway stations and rail appointed travel agents only - not online at rail websites or the shipping company.  You can find out more from the Isle of Man Steam Packet - Tel. 01624 645 685.

Timetables and Information - The Isle of Man Railway, Manx Electric Railway and Snaefell Mountain Railway together with buses on the Island are operated by Isle of Man Transport.  You can download timetables from Isle of Man Bus and Rail Information,the official site of Isle of Man Transport.

Photography - an excellent photographic site with landscapes, wildlife and photos of the Isle of Man railways can be found at Island Images, the website of Jon Wornham who has excellent photography of Isle of Man landscapes, wildlife and railways.

Photographs on this page (except the Snaefell photo) are kindly provided by Jon Wornham of Island Images and are copywrite © of Jon Wornham.  All other photos on this page and site are © Britain by Rail.

The Isle of Man Steam Railway

Route:  Douglas - Castletown - Port Erin

The Isle of Man Railway, often referred to as the Isle of Man Steam Railway, was originally opened to Port Erin in 1874.  For most of it’s existence there were three main lines on the Island - one to Peel on the west coast, another to Ramsay in the north (via the west coast) and one to Port Erin in the south.  Unfortunately all except the Port Erin line closed.  However you can still reach Ramsey by train on the Manx Electric Railway and Peel is served by a regular bus service. 

I first visited the island in 1995 and never before had I seen anything like the Isle of Man Railway.  Authentic to the last detail, this is the living, working Victorian Railway.  The little steam engines of the Isle of Man are a basic but attractive 2-4-0 design built by the Beyer, Peacock Company of Manchester in England, the first one being built in 1873 and the final one in 1926.  The railway’s first locomotive, ‘Sutherland’ still belongs to the railway.  It was restored in recent years although it is presently out of service.  The railway’s wooden bodied coaches are also original.  Passengers get on and make themselves comfortable in compartments with upholstered seating.  Windows are still lowered and opened the old fashioned way with leather straps..  Any time traveller from 1874 would feel right at home!  The stations too have been restored to their original condition, although most now have full height platforms making boarding much easier.  Previously passengers climbed up the steps from ground level.   

The line starts in the Island’s Capital, Douglas.  While it’s changed a lot of the years it is still a very attractive town to spend some time.  The local museum has great exhibitions on Island life.  The journey on the railway starts at the towns main station.  The station has an excellent railway shop which sells guide books on all the island's railways.  At one time this large terminus saw up to 100 trains each day arriving and departing. 

It's quieter today but the long platforms of Douglas station still get put to use on busy summer weekends.  The trains guard will check your ticket and then give the train the 'right away' and the little engine takes your train out on the start of it's journey.  As soon as your train is out of Douglas the scenery is rich farmland and countryside.  Wildlife can be seen right from the carriage window along with the noises and smells of a real steam railway.  The majority of the journey is still through countryside areas that have changed little since the early days of the railway. 

Although the line’s southern terminus is the town of Port Erin, there are many stations along the route.  With several trains each day during the holiday season, many travellers choose to get off en route and spend some time visiting places along the way before continuing their journey.  After Ballasalla the train will make a request stop at Ronaldsway if anyone is wishing to alight for the airport. 

Another important station is that at Castletown.  The attractive stone built building welcomes visitors to the Island’s former Capital.  Today it’s a pleasant sea side town with what is probably Britain’s best preserved Medieval Castle – Castle Rushen, which was once home to the Kings and Lords of Man.  It is open now to the public and cared for by Manx Heritage.  Also worth visiting are the old Grammar School, Nautical Museum and the former parliament, the 'House of Keys' building.  

The final stop on the line is Port Erin.  In addition to being a great seaside town with walks and places to eat, it also has a museum dedicated to the history of the Isle of Man Railway.  Ironically, the line’s newest engine – Mannin is on display inside!  You can also view many smaller items of interest, photographs and even see the Governor’s carriage. 

The railway offers an excellent means of visiting the towns and locations of the south of the Island and many excellent days out. 

Manx Electric Railway

Returning to Douglas, head to the north end of the Promenade to catch the Manx Electric Railway. 

Engineers on the Island came up with a novel way to reach the north of the island through the tough terrain that lay between the Capital and Ramsay in the way of an electric railway.  The line was opened in 1893 and still puts some of today’s transport systems to shame.  Despite it’s remote nature it is double track throughout and has always run with a regular service throughout the day. 

Trains are made up of electric vehicles which are very similar to urban tram cars.  The main differences being that these vehicles run on their own right of way separated from road traffic.  The trains have electric lights, comfortable saloons for the passengers and even open vehicles so you can get up close to the countryside and take everything in.  The oldest trams are numbers 1 and 2 dating from 1893 and both are still in service today.  Most services use what are known as the ‘winter saloons’.  These fully enclosed and comfortable cars are the largest and most advanced on the line and date from 1899. 

A journey on the Manx Electric will take you through pleasant countryside and right over the cliffs with views of the Irish Sea on your way north.  There are many stops along the way with excellent walking opportunities.  There is also a stop for the Groudle Glen Railway – a Victorian miniature pleasure railway and the Sneafell Mountain Railway at Laxey.  Take some time to visit the town of Ramsay, and the lines terminus, at the north.  The town has a boating lake, shops and the Grove Rural Life Museum. 

The Manx Electric came through some very hard times and threats of closure.  Thankfully through the efforts of many far sighted individuals it was saved and again became a major contributor to the tourism of the Island as it was originally intended to be.  In particular, Mr Mike Goodwin, campaigned successfully for the lines full restoration and has probably become the lines most knowledgeable historian having written extensively on the subject.  You may even meet him on a visit as his is a motorman on the railway! 

The Manx Electric is of international significance on the level with the San Francisco cable cars.  Many visitors choose to take several trips on them during their stay. 

Snaefell Mountain Railway

Built purely as a tourist railway the Snaefell has been taking tourists to the summit of the Island’s highest mountain since 1895.  The six original tram cars are still in use and make many trips each day from the town of Laxey (the same station as the Manx Electric) to the summit. 

The summit is 2036 feet above sea level and caused the railway builders some considerable challenges.  The 'Fell' rail system was therefore adopted.  It was not known if an electric train could climb the steep gradients to the top so the trams were equipped with driving wheels which gripped a centre 'Fell' rail and propelled the car up the gradient.  In actual fact the trams were more than capable of climbing on their own and the fell rail was not required.  The centre rail has been retained for emergency braking and may still be viewed. 

The line is also famous for crossing the TT motorbike races. 

Douglas Horse Trams

No visit to the island would be complete without a journey on the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway!  The Douglas Horse Trams are a horse-drawn tramway in Douglas, the Island's capital.  The route runs along the seafront promenade for 1.6 miles (~2.8 km), from a southern terminus at Victoria Pier, by the Sea Terminal to a northern terminus at Derby Castle, the southern terminus of the Manx Electric Railway.  The route consists of 3 ft (914 mm) gauge track, is double-tracked throughout, and is not segregated from other road traffic. 

The service was introduced in 1876 and has run every year since, except for a period during the Second World War.  Since 1927 the service has run in summer only. Service is provided by 23 tramcars and some 45 horses provide the motive power.  Many of the trams have open tops and sides for summer use, while there are other enclosed trams which tend to see more use on rainy days. 

The horses manage to pull the trams, fully laden with passengers, very easily!  When they start they take it slowly and then as they gain momentum they gather speed to a trot.  The reason they can pull the cars so easily is that the trams use roller bearings with very little resistance.  The route also happens to be along some very flat land!  When the horses get too old to pull the cars, there is a farm outside Douglas which they retire too, which is open to visitors. 

Horse tramways were generally built prior to the common adoption of electric tramways.  In Glasgow horse trams were withdrawn as early as 1902.  In the later half of the 19th century horse drawn omnibuses were the most common form of urban transit.  While some horse tram operations were introduced, many tramways were simply built as electric operations from the start, making the Douglas line very unusual in it's existence. 

It is one of the very few horse-drawn tram routes in the world and a good example of sustainable transport!

For those interested in horse drawn tramways, the only other regular genuine horse tram line I know of is located at Victoria Harbour in South Australia.  It has been in existence since 1894 and serves visitors to the Harbour area.   You can visit it's website at Victoria Harbour Tourism.