The timetables due to be operated by the four railways and tramways operated by Isle of Man Railways this year have been released and its pretty much a case of as you were with no major changes planned for any of the three lines covered by this website.
The Manx Electric Railway is the first of the three to start running with services due to commence on Tuesday 12th March. Again early and late season doesn’t see a seven day a week service but from Tuesday 21st May until Sunday 15th September there are due to be trams running every single day.
As usual there are four daytime timetables – B, C, D and F – with the frequency increasing as the letters get higher. Timetable F again sees 20 departures from Derby Castle between 0840 and 2055; this runs both during the TT and the Transport Festival. Timetable D is the main summer service and will see the continued use of either the oldest trams (1 and 2) or an open motor (16, 32 and 33) on the 1140 ex-Derby Castle and 1340 return from Ramsey.
The MER runs slightly later this year with final services on Sunday 3rd November when timetable B (7 departures) is in use.
For the Snaefell Mountain Railway things start on Tuesday 19th March. Running to a very similar pattern to the MER there are a couple of dates which seem to have no service planned – these are two Saturdays on 18th May and 10th August. Another change for the Mountain Railway is that timetable F (running during the TT) no longer has a scheduled service post 1715, instead it states “after 1715 all trams will run as required for evening practicing and racing”. The season ends on Sunday 3rd November.
And finally, the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway gets underway on Thursday 28th March and continues until Sunday 3rd November. The pattern of operation is basically the same as in 2023 with two separate timetables used – N (one tram operation) and P (two tram operation). P is used on 18 days with the remainder of the season seeing N in use. Again, its not usually a seven day a week operation except for a few weeks in the year. The service will continue to run between Derby Castle and Villa Marina.
- The new timetable can be downloaded at https://www.iombusandrail.im/media/2907/isle-of-man-railways-2024-timetable.pdf
Saturdays on 18th May and 10th August – all workings on the Snaefell Mountain Railway all day are already fully booked by cruise ships, the good news is they pay even if the weather is poor. That is why there is is no public running either day.
There is a significant reduction in the number of days the Steam Railway runs six departures from each end compared with 2023 and significantly fewer days of two tram running on the Horse Tramway. The Horse Tram running at all depends on a safe method of working with the current state of Tramway Terrace.
That really aggrevates me when all trips get pre booked. I’ll knock those dates off my potential visit list. Its good for money but very bad for PR.