A short electric railway running 640 metres along the Hythe pier from the shore to the ferry pontoon, where small boats take passengers across Southampton Water to the city. The railway opened in 1909 and is the oldest pier railway still in regular service anywhere in the world. The locomotive in daily use was built by Brush in 1917 as a battery-electric mining engine, then converted for trench warfare on the Western Front, then sold to Hythe pier in 1922.
The ride takes about three minutes; tickets are sold combined with the ferry to Southampton. The pier itself is one of the longest in Britain. Best done as a round trip from Southampton: ferry across, ride the train, walk back along the pier. Closed Christmas Day and a few maintenance days each year.