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There used to be a network of railways on the Isle of Wight. Most were closed in the 1950s and 1960s leaving just one survivor, the line from Ryde Pier Head to Shanklin. This line was electrified using the third-rail system, but work was carried out in a tunnel at Ryde to prevent flooding. This resulted in the tunnel being too small for full-height trains. Since then, the railway on the Isle of Wight has been operated by old London Underground "tube" trains.

Further work in early 2021 will prepare the line for its third successive generation of former London Underground trains. This will include lowering the track in the tunnel once more, as the trains will be larger than those they replace.

Ryde St John's Road is a station on the Island Line, and serves the town of Ryde, Isle of Wight. The station is 1.25 miles south of Ryde Pier Head, the Island Line's northern terminus. When the station opened in 1864, it was known as Ryde railway station, as it was the northern terminus of the Isle of Wight Railway at the time. Rather than a railway, a tramway continued northwards to where the current Ryde Pier Head railway station stands; the railway was extended to Ryde Pier in 1880.