This week the Manx Independent highlights the number of people using the island’s historic railway services last year.

Also this week:

Collect the second voucher in our Valentine’s competition. You could win a meal for two and a night at the Comis Hotel at Mount Murray.

A Chinese restaurant is shut as a precaution during the coronavirus crisis.

A new air service to the north east of England.

The Chief Minister apologises to gay people for laws that discriminated against them.

Two brothers from Castletown win a court battle over a fishing licence.

The island’s birth rate has dropped much faster than in neighbouring countries. That could have big implications for our future.

The works on Lord Street, Douglas, are now weeks behind schedule.

What information does the government hold on UFO sightings from the Isle of Man?

Trade union Unite tells the Manx Independent it has concerns about the new terms offered to drivers to bolster Sunday services.

During councillors’ discussions of a rate rise for the capital, there was a debate which focused on whether fortnightly bin collection should be introduced - and whether £135,000 should be spent on a new crazy golf course at Noble’s Park.

Fourteen-year-old Beth Craig has been selected for an American scholarship after being spotted on the football pitch by an agency consultant. We meet her.

A Douglas GP practice with more than 4,000 patients is to shut.

Two men have admitted committing two burglaries in a month at warehouses in Snugborough trading estate - including Currys PC World’s - in Braddan.

Progress on completing a new regulatory deal for Manx Gas has been delayed again - with climate change getting the blame.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle has urged protestors not to jump the gun ahead of any final decision about the future of the sub-post office in Ballasalla.

Another landmark in the restoration of Ramsey’s Queen’s Pier is due to take place next month when the next big lift operation takes place.

Schools recognise that their talks on periods need be provided earlier, a health education officer says.

Teachers, who are in dispute with the Department of Education, have held a vote of no confidence in the government minister. We also hear that some have been threatened.

Historian Charles Guard sheds some light on the ’Elvis Presley’ character on the back of the Manx £20 note.

Matthew Adam Brannan, of Balletessan Meadow, Peel, man has admitted grabbing a bouncer by the throat at Jaks bar on Douglas promenade.

Comments that increased rates in the south are in part down to a 37% hike in costs at the Southern Civic Amenity Site are inaccurate, bosses at the amenity site tells us.

The new year brings fresh faces to Men in Sheds in Port Erin with a new co-ordinator and a new chairman.

Our Face in the Crowd picture special features a competition between Northern AC, Manx Harriers and host club Western took place at the National Sports Centre on Sunday.

Paul Costain’s eight Highland breeding cows are among the most photographed cattle in the island. He talks to Julie Blackburn about them in our Food and Farming pages.

The Manx Independent also includes your 16-page entertainment and leisure section, Island Life, 12 pages of sport, your letters, the Isle of Man’s What’s On guide, a page of puzzles, a page of pictures from the past, readers’ photos, a seven-day television guide and lots of community news.

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