This year marks 150 years since the opening of Highams Park railway station. These days it is a significant feature of Highams Park which continues to be loved by the locals. But has it changed since it was first built? Does it still have the same uses?
Local railway expert and author, Roger Torode informed me it was first opened as “Hale End” on the 17th of November 1873. When first built, the station was used for lots of goods traffic and was the foundation with everything else being built around it.
The railway helped to build up a population within the area and in 1898 the Xylonite factory, where ping pong balls were made, was built which led to an increase in houses as more jobs became available.
In 1899 the station became known as “Highams Park and Hale End” with the name later becoming “Highams Park". Thus, the area was transformed by the station.
In the 1920s the Great Eastern railway chose to have steam trains rather than electrification to develop frequent and fast East London services. These were popularly known as jazz trains due to the coloured stripes to mark each coach’s class. The line was electrified in 1960 and the trains were updated and replaced in both 1980 and 2020.
Iconic features such as the level crossing and the signal box remain in Highams Park. However, the signal box used to be positioned on the edge of the platform before moving to the level crossing. From here the gates were controlled by a signal man until 2002. It is now done centrally in Liverpool Street.
The people of Highams Park recently celebrated the achievements of the station by hosting a weekend of events including talks by railway experts and a day of events in the station car park.
The station has served people for 150 years and will hopefully serve them for many years to come.
