Hayes line

{{Short description|Railway line in the UK}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{More citations needed|date=April 2014}} {{Infobox rail line |name = Mid-Kent line / Hayes line |box_width = auto |color = |logo = |logo_width = |image = Unit 465173 at Hayes (Kent).JPG |image_width = 300px |caption = A Southeastern {{brc|465}} at Hayes station |type = Commuter rail, Suburban rail |system = National Rail |status = Operational |locale = Greater London |start = Lewisham |end = Hayes |stations = 10 |routes = |daily_ridership = |open = 1857 |close = |owner = Network Rail |operator = Southeastern |character = |depot = |stock = Class 376 "Electrostar"<br />Class 465 "Networker"<br />Class 466 "Networker"<br />Class 707 "Desiro City" |linelength = |tracklength = |tracks = 2 |gauge = {{RailGauge|sg|allk=on}} |electrification = 750 V Direct Current third rail |speed = {{convert|60|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} maximum |elevation = |map = 300px<br />(Click to expand) |map_state = uncollapsed }} {{Hayes Line|collapse=y}} The '''Hayes line,'''<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/your-journey/live-running-information/lines-of-route/ |publisher= Southeastern |title= Lines of route |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120928062449/http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/your-journey/live-running-information/lines-of-route/ |archive-date= 28 September 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url= http://www.tfl.gov.uk/static/corporate/media/newscentre/archive/4256.html |title=TfL funds Hayes Line station improvements |publisher=Transport for London |date=17 September 2004}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.londonbanter.co.uk/london-transport/1368-hayes-kent-line.html | title=Hayes (Kent) line - London Banter }}</ref> originally and in some uses still known as the '''Mid-Kent line''',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Padgett |first1=David |last2=Kelman |first2=Leanne |editor-last=Munsey |editor-first=Myles |title=Railway Track Diagrams 5: Southern & TfL |edition=4th |date=November 2019 |orig-year=1994 |publisher=Trackmaps |location=Frome |isbn=978-1-9996271-2-6 |at=map 2 }}</ref> is a British railway line running from Courthill Loop North junction<ref>{{cite book |author=Network Rail |title=South Zone Sectional Appendix |volume=Module SO |date=April 2001 |id=SO/SA/001A |page=SO330 1/118}}</ref> (just south of Lewisham station) to Hayes railway station in the London Borough of Bromley. Originally known as the Mid-Kent Railway, it became known as the Mid-Kent Line. It has increasingly become to be known as the Hayes Line however, with none of the line in the present-day county of Kent.

==Description== *Services commence at either {{Stnlnk|Charing Cross}} via {{Stnlnk|Waterloo East}}, or Cannon Street. *London Bridge – North Kent Junction, Bermondsey: The pioneer London and Greenwich Railway opened its line on 8 February 1836. This section is built on a brick viaduct *North Kent Junction – {{Stnlnk|Lewisham}}: opened 30 July 1849 as the North Kent Railway, now called the North Kent line. Most of the railway here is in cutting with the four tracks passing through St Johns railway station, the two northernmost leading into Lewisham station. *Lewisham – {{Stnlnk|New Beckenham}}: opened 1 January 1857 as the Mid-Kent line. This opening created a junction at Lewisham. *New Beckenham – {{Stnlnk|Elmers End}}: opened on 1 April 1864 as part of an extension of the Mid-Kent line to {{Stnlnk|Addiscombe}} *Elmers End – Hayes: this section was built by the West Wickham & Hayes Railway, but was sold to the South Eastern Railway on opening day, 29 May 1882

== Services == All services along the line are operated by Southeastern. The standard off-peak service is four trains per hour (tph) each way between London Charing Cross and Hayes, two non-stop between {{rws|London Bridge}} and {{rws|Ladywell}}, and two that stop additionally at {{rws|Lewisham}}.

==History==

===Early years 1857–1922=== The existing Mid-Kent line consists of three sections built at different times. The Mid Kent Railway was built by the Mid-Kent and North Kent Junction Railway (MK&NKJR) and was opened on 1 January 1857 from {{rws|Lewisham}} (where the existing station was closed and a new station re-opened at the junction) as far as {{rws|Beckenham Junction}} (although it was not technically a junction as the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway’s line did not open until 3 May 1858). From opening the line was worked by the South Eastern Railway (SER) and served new stations at {{rws|Ladywell}}, {{rws|Catford Bridge}}, {{rws|Lower Sydenham}} and Beckenham (Junction).<ref name="Beckenham History">{{cite web|title=The History of Railways in Beckenham|url=http://www.beckenhamhistory.co.uk/railwaysinbeckenham.html|work=Beckenham History|access-date=22 February 2011}}</ref>

Seven years later the MK&NKJR built an extension from a new junction station at {{rws|New Beckenham}} to Croydon (Addiscombe Road) which again was operated by the SER.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jackson, Alan A |title=London's Local Railways |edition=2nd|year=1999|publisher=Capital Transport Publishing|location=Harrow Weald|pages=37–40}}</ref> The line diverged from the 1857 line to the west of Beckenham Junction and a new station was built in the junction area. This was re-located northwards two years later.

In September 1866 a short spur was opened from the north end of Ladywell station to the recently opened South Eastern Main Line avoiding Lewisham station, which it joins at Parks Bridge Junction.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jackson, Alan A |title=London's Local Railways |edition=2nd|year=1999|publisher=Capital Transport Publishing|location=Harrow Weald|page=37}}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation | short_title = {{visible anchor|West Wickham and Hayes Railway Act 1880}} | type = Act | parliament = Parliament of the United Kingdom | long_title = An Act for making a railway in the parishes of Beckenham, Wickham otherwise West Wickham, and Hayes, in the county of Kent; and for other purposes. | year = 1880 | citation = 43 & 44 Vict. c. l | introduced_commons = | introduced_lords = | territorial_extent = | royal_assent = 9 July 1880 | commencement = | expiry_date = | repeal_date = | amends = | replaces = | amendments = | repealing_legislation = | related_legislation = | status = | legislation_history = | theyworkforyou = | millbankhansard = | original_text = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/43-44/50/pdfs/ukla_18800050_en.pdf | revised_text = | use_new_UK-LEG = | UK-LEG_title = | collapsed = yes }} The Elmers End – Hayes section was built by the {{visible anchor|West Wickham and Hayes Railway}}, but was sold to the South Eastern Railway in 1881, opening on 29 May 1882. Intermediate stations were opened at {{rws|Eden Park}} and {{rws|West Wickham}}.

[[Image:Croydon, Norwood & Woodside RJD 53.jpg|thumb|A 1908 Railway Clearing House map of part of the Hayes Line, between Lower Sydenham and Elmers End, showing the now closed Addiscombe Line and W&SCR branches off the Hayes Line]]

Clock House station was opened in June 1890.

In 1898 the South Eastern Railway and its bitter rivals the London Chatham and Dover Railway agreed to work as one railway company under the name of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway and thus the stations became an SECR stations.

The original Lower Sydenham station was closed and moved half a mile south in 1906 in an attempt to develop a new area for housing.

On 14 June 1913 members of the Suffragettes movement planted a bomb which was discovered in the ladies waiting room at Eden Park railway station. The clockwork mechanism had stopped working and so it didn't go off. This event followed the death of Emily Wilding Davison six days earlier after her attempt to stop the King's horse at The Derby.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gray|first1=Lesley|title=Suffragette timeline|url=http://www.thekingsjockey.com/the-suffragette.html|website=The King's Jockey|publisher=Lesley Gray|access-date=29 May 2016}}</ref>

===Southern Railway 1923–1947=== Following the Railways Act 1921 (also known as the Grouping Act), the Mid-Kent line came under the control of the Southern Railway. The line was electrified with other SECR suburban routes in 1926.

Hayes, West Wickham and Elmers End stations were all damaged by enemy bombs during the Second World War, in 1940.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Hayes (Kent) |url=https://www.kentrail.org.uk/Hayes.htm |access-date=8 October 2024 |website=www.kentrail.org.uk}}</ref>

===British Railways 1948–1994=== After World War II and following nationalisation on 1 January 1948, the line became part of British Railways Southern Region.

In 1956 platform lengths were extended to accommodate 10-car trains.

During the 1960s the local goods yards at Catford Bridge, Lower Sydenham, Clock House, Elmers End, West Wickham and Hayes all closed as did the gas works internal railway at Lower Sydenham.<ref name=":0" />

Colour light signalling was introduced south of Ladywell (as far as New Beckenham) on 4 April 1971.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jackson, Alan A |title=London's Local Railways |edition=2nd|year=1999|publisher=Capital Transport Publishing|location=Harrow Weald|page=47}}</ref> The line was fully converted to colour light operation in September 1975 under the control of London Bridge Signalling Centre. The old mechanical signal boxes closed at this time.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mitchell|first1=Vic|last2=Smith|first2=Keith|title=London Bridge to Addiscombe|date=September 1993|publisher=Middleton Press|location=Midhurst, UK|isbn=1-873793-20-0|page=83}}</ref>

Upon sectorisation in 1982, the line came under the control of the London & South East sector, which was renamed Network SouthEast in 1986.<ref name="Thomas">{{cite Q|Q112224535 |author-link=David St John Thomas|first=David St John|last=Thomas |author2=Whitehouse, Patrick}}</ref>

Goods services were withdrawn in 1964 with the exception of Beckenham Junction which survived until 1982.<ref>"The Railways of Beckenham", Andrew Hajducki, 2011{{page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref>

During the planning of the London Underground Fleet line, now the Jubilee line, it was suggested that the Mid-Kent line be taken over. However a more northerly alignment was instead taken. The section from Elmers End to Addiscombe was closed in 1997 and taken over by Tramlink operations.

==Future plans==

Since the late 2000s, Transport for London (TfL) has been planning an extension of the Bakerloo line from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham via Old Kent Road.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Byrne Mulligan |first=Euan |date=1 March 2021 |title=Bakerloo Line Lewisham extension route secured for development |website=News Shopper |location=Petts Wood, Kent |url=https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/19127326.bakerloo-line-lewisham-extension-route-protected/ |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> Following completion of the Lewisham extension, TfL proposes extending the line over the existing National Rail line to Hayes and Beckenham Junction, adding an additional 10 stations to the line.<ref name=":17">{{Cite web |date=October 2019 |title=Bakerloo line extension – Further Extension to Hayes and Beckenham Junction – Summary Report |url=https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/tube/bakerloo-extension/user_uploads/summary-report-further-extension-hayes-beckenham.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817080857/https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/tube/bakerloo-extension/user_uploads/summary-report-further-extension-hayes-beckenham.pdf |archive-date=17 August 2021 |access-date=2 April 2021 |website=Transport for London}}</ref> The line would have to be converted for the Bakerloo line; TfL has stated that all stations along the line would be made step-free from street to train.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Pidgeon |first1=Caroline |last2=Khan |first2=Sadiq |date=4 November 2019 |title=Bakerloo Line extension (2) |url= https://www.london.gov.uk/questions/2019/20150 |access-date=2 April 2021 |website=Mayor's Question Time}}</ref> Bromley Council is supportive of the extension to Lewisham, but does not support the extension to Hayes and Beckenham Junction.<ref name=":21">{{Cite press release |date=18 October 2019 |title=Bakerloo extension to Hayes will be challenged |url= https://www.bromley.gov.uk/news/article/228/bakerloo-extension-to-hayes-will-be-challenged |access-date=14 April 2023 |publisher= Bromley Council }}</ref>

Due to the financial situations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, work to implement the extension is currently on hold.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marshall |first=Jordan |date=10 March 2021 |title=TfL mothballs Crossrail 2 and Bakerloo line extension because of pandemic |url= https://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/tfl-mothballs-crossrail-2-and-bakerloo-line-extension-because-of-pandemic/5110836.article |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210310081228/https://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/tfl-mothballs-crossrail-2-and-bakerloo-line-extension-because-of-pandemic/5110836.article |archive-date=10 March 2021 |access-date=28 March 2021 |website=Building Design }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lydall |first=Ross |date=17 March 2021 |title=TfL: No more 'mega projects' and not enough money to finish Crossrail |url= https://www.standard.co.uk/news/mayor/tfl-mega-projects-finish-crossrail-2-bakerloo-line-extension-b924630.html |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210317131317/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/mayor/tfl-mega-projects-finish-crossrail-2-bakerloo-line-extension-b924630.html |archive-date=17 March 2021 |access-date=31 March 2021 |website= Evening Standard |location= London}}</ref> In March 2021, TfL's finance chief stated that the extension would not be seen in the next decade.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 March 2021 |title=Bakerloo line extension? Not in next decade – TfL finance chief |url=http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/10498 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210310130902/https://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/10498 |archive-date=10 March 2021 |access-date=2 April 2021 |website=London SE1 }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Transport in the London Borough of Lewisham Category:Transport in the London Borough of Bromley Category:Railway lines opened in 1857 Category:Railway lines in London Category:Standard gauge railways in London Category:1857 establishments in England Category:South Eastern and Chatham Railway