HOPES the Island Line trains may soon switch to a half-hourly service have been dashed once again.

The National Rail website is currently taking bookings ahead, and there are only hourly trains listed right through to early April.

Although South Western Railway told the County Press a month ago there were no plans to bring in a half hourly service until the Spring, the website confirmation of available timings has scotched continued rumours of a forthcoming half hourly service.

Commuter Tyler Bernard, of Shanklin, said: "Good to know a £26m spend can result in a worse service!

"Lots of people were speculating that it wouldn’t happen, and we would get a half hour service soon, but this update will crush their hopes.

"Especially in light of the restricted ferry timetable for the pierhead, it means as there is no guaranteed FastCat connection.

"Passengers can easily get stuck for an hour at the pier head if either service is even a few minutes late, which is not fun, especially at this time of year.

"I have to go to London on business from time to time, which now means a hotel stay if the last train you can get from London and be sure of getting home is before 5pm.

"It seems while everywhere else is improving public transport and cutting back on car use for environmental reasons, it’s becoming essential to buy a car if you live on the Island."

Last month, the County Press reported that on social media, it was being claimed a document showed the service resuming half-hourly from December 12.

At that time, SWR said no date had been set and the hourly service would remain in place "until Spring".

A spokesperson said: "As things stand at the moment, one train per hour is amply meeting demand."

Island Line closed to passengers in January and a number of deadlines passed before it finally started running again, on the route between Ryde and Shanklin.

While its return on November 1 was widely welcomed, operator SWR's decision to run only one train per hour has drawn criticism.