From Brenda Bunkham, Sandown:
While we are delighted there is a glimmer of hope for the Island Line, we were horrified to read that "through ticketing will be available via web and mobile apps".
Presumably therefore ticket machines will not do this?
There must be many Island residents who do not have immediate access to the web, or never use a computer.
Also many of the older generation do not have smart phones.
We have a landline and a pay-as-you-go mobile in our car in case of breakdown.
It looks as though many of the over-70s would have difficulty obtaining through tickets and travel information and could discourage them from travelling or purchasing senior railcards.
Surely that cannot be the intention of the rail companies.
The loss of the extremely good staff at Ryde ticket office would be awful for the many residents and tourists, who rely on this office to advise on the best routes to take, the best days to travel, whether any strikes are scheduled and whether there is any problem with the boats.
None of this information would be available by machine.