Isle of Man timetables and operating dates confirmed for 2023

Full timetables and operating dates for the four railways and tramways operated by Isle of Man Transport have now been confirmed. It will be a special year on the island as the Steam Railway (granted not in our remit) is celebrating 150 years of operation and the Manx Electric Railway (definitely in our remit!) reaches 130 years – plus it will be the first full season of running for the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway since 2019 (although still on a reduced length of line).

Douglas Bay Horse Tramway

6^th April to 29^th October 2023

There will be two timetables in operation during the year – “N” and “P”.

“N” includes half hourly departures between Derby Castle and Villa Marina from 0905 to 1700 (including a gap for lunch and also mid-afternoon). This will run on all operating days except for during the TT races, the Transport Festival and at weekends in August and early September.

“P” sees services between 0905 and 1800, and includes services every 15 minutes from late morning (with a slight break at lunch). This will run as shown above during the TT races, Transport Festival and at weekends in August and early September.

The basic pattern of operation is Thursday-Sunday until the end of May (with additional services in school holidays and bank holidays), then Wednesday-Sunday until the Transport Festival in July. August (and until the first full week of September) sees trams Tuesday-Sunday (plus Bank Holiday Monday) and then from 13^th September its Wednesday to Sunday until the end of the season.

Manx Electric Railway

14^th March to 29^th October 2023

There are four main daytime timetables in operation during the year – “B”, “C”, “D” and “F”. In addition there are evening timetables “E” and “G”.

The season gets underway in March with “B” (7 departures from Derby Castle daily with 1 only running to Laxey) starting at 0940. This will run Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday & Sunday in March.

Timetable “C” kicks in from Saturday 1^st April with 8 full length journeys, 1 single Laxey-Douglas trip in the morning and 1 return Derby Castle-Laxey. This timetable will run throughout April (except Mondays 3^rd & 24^th when there is no service until Friday 28^th April, then Tuesdays-Fridays in May (except 29^th-31^st), the last 3 Mondays and Tuesdays in June, then Monday 11^th September and Tuesdays-Sundays from 26^th September to 29^th October.

Timetable “D” has 9 Derby Castle to Ramsey services, 1 morning Laxey-Derby Castle and 3 return Derby Castle-Laxey trips. This will run Saturday 29^th, Sunday 30^th April, Mondays 1^st & 8^th May, Saturdays and Sundays in May, Friday 9^th to Sunday 11^th June, Wednesdays to Sundays in June from 14^th, daily from 1^st to 25^th July, daily in August, daily from 1^st to 24^th September (except Mondays 11^th and 18^th). This timetable also sees (subject to availability) the 1140 ex-Derby Castle and 1340 return from Ramsey allocated to either 1, 2, 16, 32 or 33.

Timetable “F” is the most intensive pre-published timetable and runs daily from 29^th May to 8^th June and from 26^th to 28^th July. It sees services start at 0840 and includes 20 departures north from Derby Castle of which 2 only run as far as Laxey.

Timetable “E” is an evening service to Groudle with departures from Derby Castle at 1840, 1910, 2010, 2040 and 2110 (with returns 15 minutes later). Its runs on Wednesdays from 14^th June to 30^th August (except 26^th July when Timetable “F” continues to run into the evening).

Timetable “G” includes evening services which run all the way to Ramsey. There are departures from Derby Castle to Ramsey at 1640, 1740, 2040 plus Laxey services at 1840, 1910, 2140. The final tram is back at Derby Castle at 2325 (2210 ex-Ramsey). This will run on Saturdays 6^th, 20^th May, 17^th, 24^th June, 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd July, 5^th August to 23^rd September.

Snaefell Mountain Railway

18^th March to 29^th October

Timetable letters match those on the Manx Electric Railway and are due to run on the same days.

Timetable “B” runs hourly between 1015 and 1415, then 1500 and 1545 from Laxey (returns from the Summit are 55 minutes later)

Timetable “C” runs half hourly between 1015 and 1545

Timetable “D” runs half hourly between 1015 and 1545

Timetable “F” runs half hourly between 0945 and 1815 and then 1915 and 2015 (there are also departures back from the Summit at 2120, 2150)

For the record the Isle of Man Steam Railway season runs between 10^th March and 29^th October 2023.

Special events due to run during the year include:

• 8^th/9^th April – Easter Weekend to include workshop tours, motorman taster lessons and stable open day
• 1^st July – 150^th Anniversary of Isle of Man Steam Railway
• 23^rd to 30^th July – Year of the Railways 2023 to celebrate 150 years of the Steam Railway and 130 years of the Manx Electric Railway
• 10^th September – 130^th Anniversary celebration of the Manx Electric Railway

Although we have tried to describe what service runs and when above it is far easier to look at the actual timetable which can be downloaded at https://www.iombusandrail.im/media/2693/isle-of-man-railways-2023-timetable.pdf