History
The station was opened on 29 March 1843 by the Eastern Counties Railway, and was always named simply Colchester. Locally, the station is known as Colchester North, to distinguish it from Colchester Town. Buses use this unofficial name. The station is not conveniently sited for the town, but buses connect to the town centre. Colchester Town is closer to the town centre.
The Eastern Counties Railway had planned to build a line from London to Norwich using a very similar route to that on which the Great Eastern Main Line operates today but funding became a problem and apart from surveying a section onwards to Ardleigh they were forced to abandon any further line construction.
It was three years later when the onward link to Ipswich was eventually opened by the Eastern Union Railway following intervention by business interests in Ipswich. The town having felt isolated by development of the route to Norwich via Cambridge by the Eastern Counties Railway.
As passenger numbers passing through the station increased, particularly with growth on the Sunshine Coast Line the lay-out of the station became inadequate. This problem was heightened on summer weekends when large numbers of holiday trains destined for Clacton-on-Sea were added to the schedules. The station had also been built on a fairly sharp curve which imposed speed restrictions on any non-stop expresses. These problems were all resolved by a reconstruction of the station in 1961.
After the reconstruction the station has two main platforms. The up (London bound) comprises two platforms, numbers 3 and 4, which have an unusual layout: 3 is on the up main line and is served by Norwich expresses, while 4 is on the up Sunshine Coast line, which merges with the up main where the two platforms join end-to-end. The junction is protected by a trap leading to friction buffer stops. This combined platform is the longest in the UK at 2034 ft (620 m). There are also bay platforms at both ends of the up main platform. The London-end bay (Platform 6) is used for a small number of trains to London, or those that terminate at Colchester from London: these are normally morning or evening peak services. Previously this platform was used for services to/from Sudbury. However, these were shortened to terminate at Marks Tey in the mid-90s. The other bay platform (Platform 5) is used for services to Colchester Town and the all-station service to Walton-on-the-Naze. The down side platform is an island with two faces, one on the down main, and one on the down Sunshine Coast line. Platform 1 is mainly used for trains to Clacton-on-Sea but occasionally used for trains to Norwich.
The main ticket office is a modern glass fronted design, sited on the north side of the station, and access to the platforms is by a subway. The original station building is on the south side, and provides access to the up platform for those with tickets or wanting to buy tickets from a machine. Both entrances to the station are protected by automatic ticket gates.
Former train operating company Anglia Railways ran services known as London Crosslink from Norwich to Basingstoke via Stratford. This service started in 2000 and ended in 2002.
Read more about this topic: Colchester Railway Station
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