Commuters let the train take the strain out of getting to and from work during TT week.

But numbers using the TT commuter service were down on previous years.

And the absence of on-board dining this year could well be to blame – after plans to offer a ‘luxury’ breakfast bap and single fare for £18 per person were withdrawn.

Trains left Port Erin at 7.45am over four days last week, arriving in Douglas an hour later and with the evening return setting off at 5.45pm.

Just 15 passengers were on the first service on Monday morning but their numbers were bolstered by revellers heading to Port Erin in the evening, with 51 on board the 17.45.

Tuesday saw 25 on the morning train and 29 on the evening service, and Wednesday’s figures were 33 and 36 respectively.

Thursday morning’s train to Douglas had 28 on board.

In 2019, numbers were higher, with 41, 39, and 53 heading to Douglas on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday respectively – and 29, an impressive 133 and 43 on the evening return.

In previous years, passengers could enjoy a full Manx breakfast on their morning commute into Douglas from the south – with bar meals available from the dining car during the journey home.

Usual bus fares applied with food and drink extra cost.

But this year there was no dining car and no food facilities on board.

The original plan had been to offer a ‘luxury breakfast bap’ and drink for the morning commute at a price of £18 per person including one-way travel.

Bar snacks were to have been offered for the same price on the evening commute.

But on May 24, Isle of Man Transport announced changes to the advertised TT Commuter Club train.

In a change to all previous years, commuter services operated with standard compartment coaches rather than with the dining train ‘to accommodate as many passengers as possible’.

There were no on-board food facilities and no requirement to book.