Colchester railway station (also known as Colchester North) is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the East of England, and the primary station serving the town of Colchester, Essex. Its three-letter station code is COL. It is 51 miles 52 chains (83.1 km) down-line from London Liverpool Street and on the GEML is situated between Marks Tey to the west and Manningtree and to the east. Colchester is also the junction where the GEML links to the Sunshine Coast Line, which runs south to Clacton-on-Sea and, via a short branch, to Walton-on-the-Naze. Services to and from Colchester Town also join the GEML at the Colchester junction. The junction is grade-separated so trains branching to and from Colchester Town or the Sunshine Coast Line do not cross the main line.
The station was opened in 1843 by the Eastern Counties Railway. It is currently operated by Abellio Greater Anglia, which also runs all trains serving the station.
The station was opened on 29 March 1843 by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) and was named simply as Colchester. Locally, however, it is also known as Colchester North to distinguish it from Colchester Town railway station. Buses also use this unofficial name. Colchester station is not particularly conveniently sited for the town, but buses connect to the town centre. Colchester Town station is closer to the town centre (hence its name).
The ECR 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 ECR.
As passenger numbers passing through the station increased, particularly with growth on the Sunshine Coast Line, the layout 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 relatively sharp curve.
Prior to electrification of the lines, Colchester was modernised in 1962, with a new station building on the north side of the tracks. Following 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 express trains, while 4 is on the up Sunshine Coast Line which merges with the up main line where the two platforms join end-to-end. The junction is protected by a trap leading to friction buffer stops. There are also bay platforms at both ends of the up main platform. The London-end bay (platform 6) is used for peak trains to and from London. Previously this platform was used for frequent services for the Sudbury Branch Line. However, most of these services were shortened to terminate at Marks Tey in the mid-1990s. In the timetable as of December 2014 only a single service each day to and from Sudbury starts and terminates at Colchester. The other bay platform (platform 5) is used for services to Colchester Town and Walton-on-the-Naze. The "down" side platform is an island platform 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 and occasionally 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 via a subway. The previous 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 operated services known as London Crosslink from Norwich to Basingstoke via Stratford. This service started in 2000 and ended in 2002.