Colchester railway station

Colchester
The old station building, now the rear entrance
Location
Place	Colchester
Local authority	Borough of Colchester, Essex
Operations
Station code	COL
Managed by	National Express East Anglia
Platforms in use	6
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	4.305 million
2005/06 *	4.288 million
2006/07 *	4.338 million
2007/08 *	4.526 million
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Colchester from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.
UK Railways Portal

Colchester railway station is the main station for Colchester in Essex, England. It is on the former Great Eastern Railway main line from London Liverpool Street to Norwich and is a junction for the line to Walton-on-the-Naze and Clacton-on-Sea which diverges southwards from the main line to the east of the station. The junction is grade-separated so trains passing to and from the Clacton line do not cross the main line. Train services are provided by National Express East Anglia.

Colchester is a junction station for the important Sunshine Coast Line to Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze.

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 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^{[dubious – discuss]} at 620 m (2034 ft). 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 which 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.

Services

The typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service from Colchester is:

• 5 trains per hour (tph) to London Liverpool Street, of which:
  • 1 calls at Shenfield (to set down) only
  • 1 calls at Chelmsford and Stratford (to set down) only
  • 1 calls at Witham, Chelmsford and Shenfield (to set down only)
  • 1 calls at Marks Tey, Kelvedon, Witham, Chelmsford, Shenfield and Stratford (to set down)
  • 1 calls at Marks Tey, Witham, Chelmsford, Shenfield, Romford and Stratford (to set down)

Journey times can vary between 51 and 61 minutes.

• 2 tph to Colchester Town, taking 7 minutes

• 1 tph to Walton-on-the-Naze, calling at Colchester Town, Hythe (Essex), Wivenhoe, Alresford (Essex), Great Bentley, Weeley, Thorpe-le-Soken, Kirby Cross and Frinton-on-Sea. It takes 53 minutes to reach Walton-on-the-Naze.

• 2 tph to Norwich, of which:
  • 1 calls at Manningtree, Ipswich and Diss
  • 1 calls at Manningtree, Ipswich, Stowmarket and Diss.

Journey times are either 62 or 63 minutes.

• 1 tph to Clacton-on-Sea, calling only at Wivenhoe and Thorpe-le-Soken. It takes 27 minutes to reach Clacton-on-Sea.

• 1 tph to Harwich Town, calling at Manningtree, Mistley, Wrabness, Harwich International and Dovercourt. It takes 31 minutes to reach Harwich Town.

Colchester railway station

• 1 train every two hours (tp2h) to Lowestoft, calling at Ipswich, Westerfield, Woodbridge, Melton, Wickham Market, Saxmundham, Darsham, Halesworth, Brampton (Suffolk), Beccles and Oulton Broad South. It takes 1 hour 54 minutes to reach Lowestoft.

• 1 tp2h to Peterborough, calling at Ipswich, Stowmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Ely, March and Whittlesea. It takes 2 hours to reach Peterborough.

On Sundays the service is reduced to:

• 3 tph to London, of which:
  • 1 calls only at Shenfield (to set down)
  • 1 calls at Marks Tey, Witham, Chelmsford, Shenfield and Stratford (to set down)
  • 1 calls at Marks Tey, Kelvedon, Witham, Hatfield Peverel, Chelmsford, Ingatestone, Shenfield and Stratford (to set down)

Journey times vary between 58 and 72 minutes.

• 1 tph to Clacton-on-Sea, calling at Wivenhoe, Alresford (Essex), Great Bentley and Thorpe-le-Soken. It takes 30 minutes to reach Clacton-on-Sea.

• 1 tph to Ipswich, calling at Manningtree. It takes 20 minutes to reach Ipswich.

• 1 tph to Norwich, calling at Manningtree, Ipswich, Stowmarket and Diss. It takes 64 minutes to reach Norwich.

External links

• Train times and station information for Colchester railway station from National Rail

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.

Coordinates: 51°54′02.23″N 0°53′34.27″E / 51.9006194°N 0.8928528°E / 51.9006194; 0.8928528