There are a number of transport services around the Isle of Man, mostly consisting of paved roads, public transport, rail services, sea ports and an airport.
Contents
Roads
The island has a total of 688 miles (1,107 km) of public roads, all of which are paved. Roads are numbered using a numbering scheme similar to the numbering schemes of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; each road is assigned a letter, which represents the road's category, followed by a 1 or 2 digit number. A roads are the main roads of the island whilst roads labelled B, C, D or U decrease in size and or quality. (The C, D and U numbers are not marked on most maps.) There is no national speed limit - some roads may be driven at any speed which is safe and appropriate. Careless and dangerous driving laws still apply, so one may not drive at absolutely any speed, and there are local speed limits on many roads. Nevertheless, sight lines are such that there are parts of the network where someone in an appropriate vehicle could approach 200 miles per hour (322 km/h), although measured travel speeds (see table below) are often relatively low. Drivers are limited to 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) in the first two years after passing their driving test (Isle of Man citizens are permitted to start driving at the age of sixteen) and some are not used to having to make progress in the same way as on a larger road network such as that in the UK: even a cautious driver can get from anywhere in the island to anywhere else in ninety minutes).
Set against this is a strong culture of motor sport enthusiasm (pinnacled in the TT, but there are many events during the year) and experienced residents are well used to traversing country roads at speeds illegal on roads of such relatively low quality anywhere else on Earth. This leads to a very diverse level of both driving competence and speed. In an official survey in 2006 the introduction of blanket speed limits was refused by the population, suggesting that a large number appreciate the freedom.
There is a comprehensive bus network, operated by Bus Vannin, a department of the Isle of Man Government, with most routes originating or terminating in Douglas.
Railways
The island has a total of 68.5 km (42.6 mi) of railway, of which 43.5 km (27.0 mi) is electrified. There are six separate rail systems on the island:
(The last three are short-distance tourist rides which cannot be said to be transport services.)
Airports
The only commercial airport on the island is the Isle of Man Airport at Ronaldsway. Scheduled services operate to and from various cities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, operated by several different airlines.
The island's other paved runways are at Jurby and Andreas. Jurby remains in Isle of Man Government ownership and is used for motorsport events and, previously, airshows, while Andreas is privately owned and used by a local glider club. The old Hall Caine Airport, a grass field near Ramsey, is no longer used.
Aircraft Register
The Isle of Man Aircraft Register became operational on 1 May 2007. The register is open to all non-commercial aircraft and is intended to be of particular interest to professionally flown corporate operators. As of November 2012 a total of 537 corporate and private aircraft had been registered.
Ports and harbours
Ports are located at Castletown, Douglas, Peel and Ramsey. Douglas is served by frequent ferries to and from United Kingdom and Ireland; the sole operator is the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company with exclusive use of the Isle of Man Sea Terminal, and the Douglas port linkspans under the conditions of the user agreement negotiated with the Isle of Man Government.
Merchant marine
The Isle of Man register comprises 226 ships of 1,000 GRT or over, totalling 6,055,436 GRT or 9,972,459 tonnes deadweight (DWT). This figure includes some foreign-owned ships registered on the Island as a flag of convenience: Australia, 3; Cyprus, 4; Denmark, 30; Estonia, 3; France, 1; Germany, 57; Greece, 8; Hong Kong, 11; Iceland, 1; Italy, 6; Monaco, 4; Netherlands, 2; New Zealand, 1; Norway, 10; Singapore, 2; Sweden, 3; United Kingdom, 80; United States, 1.
A breakdown of ships by type: bulk, 25; cargo, 40; chemical tanker, 25; combination bulk, 2; container, 19; liquefied gas, 31; multi-functional large load carrier, 1; petroleum tanker, 59; refrigerated cargo, 1; roll on/roll off, 17; specialised tanker, 1; vehicle carrier, 5.