The Isle of Man has a rich transport heritage and boasts the largest narrow-gauge railway network in the British Isles[1] with several historic railways and tramways still in operation. These operate largely to what is known as "Manx Standard Gauge" (narrow gauge)[2] and together they comprise about 65miles of Victorian railways and tramways. The Isle of Man Railway Museum in Port Erin allows people to find out more about the history of the Manx railways, and was until 1998 accompanied by a similar museum in Ramsey, which was dedicated to the history of the electric line, but this was closed and converted into a youth club. The steam railway to the south of the island, electric to the north and mountain line to the summit of Snaefell, the island's only mountain, are all government-owned, and operated under the title Isle of Man Railways, as a division of the island's Department of Infrastructure. The lines at Groudle Glen and Curraghs Wildlife Park are both privately owned but open to the public.[3]
The lines listed in the table are or have been open to the general public. Most of the major lines had/have "Manx Standard Gauge" of .
| Notes | |||||||
| Isle of Man Railway | 1873 | — | 15.5miles | Peel line closed 1969 | |||
| Manx Northern Railway | 1879 | 1905 | 47miles | Taken over by the Isle of Man Railway in 1905. Last tracks used 1969. | |||
| 1886 | 1905 | 2.25miles | Taken over by the Isle of Man Railway in 1905. | ||||
| Snaefell Mountain Railway | 1895 | — | 5.5miles | ||||
| Groudle Glen Railway | 1896 | — | 0.9km (00.6miles) | No service 1962 to 1983 | |||
| Manx Electric Railway | 1893 | — | 17miles | ||||
| Douglas Bay Horse Tramway | 1876 | — | 1miles | ||||
| Great Laxey Mine Railway | data-sort-value="1877" | 1877 2004 | 1929 — | data-sort-value="1 ft 7 in" | 0.25miles | Former mine railway, reopened in 2004 as a tourist heritage railway | |
| Upper Douglas Cable Tramway | 1896 | 1929 | |||||
| Douglas Southern Electric Tramway or Marine Drive railway | 1896 | 1939 | 4.7miles | ||||
| Douglas Head Funicular Railway or Douglas Head Inclined Railway[4] [5] | 1900 | 1954 | 450feet | Passenger incline railway | |||
| Port Soderick Cliff Lift[6] | 1896 | 1939 | 217feet | First Falcon Cliff Lift sold to Port Soderick and re-erected there in 1896 | |||
| 1890 | 1906 | 300feet | |||||
| Queen's Pier Tramway, Ramsey | 1882 | 1971 | 0.424miles | Restoration works under way[7] | |||
| Orchid Line, Wildlife Park, Ballaugh | 1992 | — | Various | Miniature railway | |||
| First Falcon Cliff Lift, Douglas[8] | 1887 | 1896 | 218feet | Sold and became the Port Soderick Cliff Lift | |||
| Second Falcon Cliff Lift, Douglas[9] [10] | 1927 | 1990 | 129feet | Track and installations still in place but overgrown. |
There have been various other railways on the Isle of Man that have never been open for public transport, such as those in the various mines around the island. Among these are/were:
About fifty other minor tramways, in the various mines, quarries and sand pits, or on RAF gunnery lines, existed on the island.