One of the new Island Line trains has been filmed on the move, as a £26 million upgrade to the Isle of Wight's network, between Shanklin and Ryde, continues.

Eagle-eyed Islander Rob Peters grabbed his opportunity to get a sneak preview of what is to come - sharing the footage with the County Press.

  • Scroll down to watch his video...

Island Line is currently closed to passengers (replacement buses are running) and it had been due to open at the end of this month (March 31).

Meanwhile, the old rolling stock retired on January 3.

However, as the County Press has previously reported, Covid-19 has delayed the programme of work.

In the most recent statement, Alex Foulds, major projects director at SWR said: “We’re sorry the impact of Covid-19 means we have been forced to reschedule the reopening of the Island Line, but our teams continue to work tirelessly on the project and aim to have the first trains running to a new timetable in mid-May.” 

“Everyone at SWR is committed to delivering a modern railway for the Isle of Wight and we all look forward to welcoming customers onto the new Island Line tracks and trains as we emerge from the shadow of COVID 19 later this year.” 

The delay has not stopped the testing of the new trains, as Rob Peters saw first hand when he grabbed this video.

Earlier this year, we shared drone photos of the ongoing work, taken by Ben Rue.

Pictures: Isle of Wight's Island Line railway work from above

Scroll through our gallery from December of the old Island Line trains thorough their decades of service.

In pictures: New train spotted on Island Line tracks