History
The Mid-Kent line was opened on 1 January 1857 by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. The Hayes branch line from Elmers End was built by the West Wickham & Hayes Railway, but was sold to the South Eastern Railway on the opening day, 29 May 1882.
The early single-storey, clapboard building was enough for the initial demand in an area of London that saw urbanisation relatively late. Usage remained low until electrification in 1925. As suburban development gained pace, the station was modernised in 1933 with shops being incorporated into the entrance. In 1940, it was badly damaged by a bomb and subsequently repaired in 1956.
In 2004, the Strategic Rail Authority proposed withdrawing services to Charing Cross from the Hayes Line. Following a campaign led by local Councillors and the Hayes Village Association, the plans were withdrawn.
Now, it is commonly used by school children from Hayes School and Ravensbourne School.
Read more about this topic: Hayes Railway Station
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“In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)