Ryde's pier was begun in 1813, stretched through the nineteenth century to half a mile, and had its head rebuilt around a railway station. Wightlink's FastCats still tie up there: twenty-two minutes from the platforms of Portsmouth Harbour station, foot passengers only, through the day at a quarter past each hour from Portsmouth and a quarter to from Ryde.
Timetable for 5 January to 20 December 2026 (published September 2025, sheet dated 14 August 2026) and Christmas timetable for 21 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 (published June 2026), read on wightlink.co.uk and in Wightlink's PDFs on 7 October 2026. Wightlink — Portsmouth Harbour – Ryde Pier Head timetables · 2026-10-07
Ryde Pier came first. Historic England's listing dates its start to 1813 and records how, through the nineteenth century, it was lengthened and altered to half a mile, its pier head reshaped when a station was built there. In 1870 it was where the Empress Eugénie came ashore after fleeing Paris. So a boat from Portsmouth still lands half a mile out from Ryde's streets, beside a railway platform.
Today Wightlink's FastCat makes the connection, from a terminal inside Portsmouth Harbour station to the head of the pier, where Island Line trains wait for the onward run to Shanklin. It carries foot passengers and bicycles only. The two catamarans now on the route, Wight Ryder I and II, are the third generation of fast craft Wightlink has used on it, after FastCat Ryde and FastCat Shanklin.
From autumn to mid-December the timetable is simple: one boat an hour each way, plus two early starts in each direction on weekdays, at the same fares until the end of the year.
Wightlink prices this route a little above its other two crossings for walkers, and changes the figures by season; the block in force now runs from 1 October to 31 December 2026. A return is valid for 364 nights, a day return until 04:30 the next morning, and an Afternoon Flyer for any outward sailing after midday with the return before 04:30.
Bikes travel free with a foot ticket, and a ticket bought for one sailing can be used on another the same day on the same route if there is room. Family tickets can only be bought at the port, and the cheaper MyLink fares are reserved for island members travelling from Ryde.
| Adult, single | £ 22.40 |
| Adult, day return | £ 29.20 |
| Child 5–15, single | £ 10.95 |
| Child 5–15, day return | £ 14.10 |
| Student 16+, single | £ 19.10 |
| Senior 60+, single | £ 17.30 |
| Senior 60+, day return | £ 22.50 |
| Infant 0–4 | Free |
| Adult, return (364 nights) | £ 40.40 |
| Adult, Afternoon Flyer | £ 23.20 |
| Child, return | £ 19.70 |
| Student, return | £ 35 |
| Senior, return | £ 31.70 |
| Family, day return | £ 70 |
| Family, return | £ 99.50 |
| Family, Afternoon Flyer | £ 55 |
Off-peak fares for 1 October – 31 December 2026, from Wightlink's foot passenger price page, read on 7 October 2026. Published on one Wightlink page only, so treat them as Wightlink's current list rather than a guarantee. Wightlink — foot passenger ticket prices · 2026-10-07
Landing point to landing point, the FastCat covers a little over seven kilometres, out of Portsmouth Harbour and over the Solent to Ryde's pier head. The same stretch of water has two other foot-passenger services on this site, and they are easy to confuse. The Ryde hovercraft leaves from Southsea seafront, not Portsmouth Harbour, and lands on the beach beside Ryde Esplanade, three-quarters of a kilometre from the pier head; Red Funnel's Red Jet runs from Southampton to West Cowes instead.
Drivers need a different route altogether: Wightlink's car ferries go from Gunwharf to Fishbourne, or from the New Forest on the Lymington to Yarmouth ferry.
The terminal is inside Portsmouth Harbour railway station: get off the train and keep walking to the end of the platforms. The Hard bus interchange is just outside, and Gunwharf Quays is a few minutes away on foot.
Tickets come from card-only machines or the Customer Service Point, as Wightlink no longer takes cash. Drivers leaving a car should use Wightlink's car park opposite the Gunwharf Road car ferry terminal, about ten minutes' walk from the FastCat, and pay through the machines or the JustPark app.
At Ryde the catamaran berths at the far end of the pier, beside the Island Line station, where South Western Railway trains leave for Brading, Sandown, Lake and Shanklin. Buses and taxis wait at the landward end, on the Esplanade; a separate pedestrian walkway now runs the length of the pier, away from the vehicle lane.
Vehicles can drive out along the pier to a pay car park at the head, subject to a three-tonne weight limit, a 2.25-metre height limit and 10 mph, which applies to cyclists too. The terminal has a café, ticket machines and a Changing Places toilet.
Wightlink asks for at least ten minutes between a train and a FastCat at either end. Foot passengers should be at the port fifteen minutes before departure, and the boarding gate closes two minutes before.
The gates at both terminals read Wightlink e-tickets and rail tickets with barcodes or QR codes. Adults with children, and anyone holding an Interrail pass or a magnetic-stripe ticket, go through a staffed check.
Each catamaran has racks for 20 bicycles, carried free. E-scooters, hoverboards and similar small electric vehicles are banned from Wightlink's boats and ports.
Passengers who need assistance should tell Wightlink at least two days before travelling; without notice staff will try to help, but the operator warns that the journey may be delayed.
Wightlink has already put its 2027 timetable online, covering 4 January to 19 December 2027, and several departures move. Check it before booking anything from January.
Wightlink describes itself as carrying 4.3 million people a year on three routes, and this is its only one without vehicles. The FastCat also keeps running when the car ferries cannot take walkers: on the weekend of the Great South Run in October, foot passengers are shut out of the Fishbourne ships and pointed to Ryde instead.
Both catamarans were built in 2009 at Cebu in the Philippines and entered service on 29 September that year. Each is 39.5 metres long and can hold 260 passengers, with a sun deck and racks for twenty bikes.
No. The FastCat is Wightlink's catamaran from Portsmouth Harbour station to Ryde Pier Head, taking about 22 minutes. The hovercraft is a separate company's service from Southsea seafront to the beach next to Ryde Esplanade.
No, it is foot passengers and bicycles only. Wightlink's car ferry from Portsmouth sails to Fishbourne, not Ryde.
£22.40 for an adult and £10.95 for children between five and fifteen, in the off-peak price block that runs from 1 October to 31 December 2026. A day return is £29.20.
23:10, every day of the week, under the timetable running to 20 December. Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve finish earlier.
If your rail ticket includes the crossing and carries a barcode or QR code, it opens the ticket gates at both ports. Interrail passes are not accepted at the gates, and magnetic-stripe tickets are checked manually.
Not on 25 December. Between 21 December and 3 January a special timetable applies, with extra half-hourly boats only on 28 December.