Colchester Railway Station
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Colchester railway station (also known as Colchester North or simply North Station by residents) is on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) in the
East of England East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact ...
, and is the primary station serving the city of
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...
, Essex. Its three-letter station code is COL. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and on the GEML is situated between to the west and to the east. Colchester is also the location of a major junction where the GEML links to the Sunshine Coast Line, which runs south to and, via a short branch, to ; services to and from 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 need to use the main line's tracks to cross it. Colchester station was opened in 1843 by the Eastern Counties Railway. It is currently managed by Greater Anglia, which also operates all trains serving the station.


History

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 station. Buses also use this unofficial name. Colchester station is not particularly conveniently sited for the city, but buses connect to the city centre. Colchester Town station is closer to the city centre (hence its name). The ECR had planned to build a line from London to 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 , they were forced to abandon any further line construction. It was three years later when the onward link to was eventually opened by the Eastern Union Railway following intervention by business interests in Ipswich, the city having felt isolated by development of the railway to Norwich via 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 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) side comprises two platforms, numbers 3 and 4, which have an unusual layout: 3 is on the up main line and is served by intercity trains from Norwich, while 4 is on the up branch line which merges with the up main line where the two platforms join end-to-end. However, with the unusual layout of platforms, Colchester station gains the longest physical platform in the UK as the entire length (from platform 3 to 4) measures at ; Gloucester station has the longest unbroken platform at . The junction is protected by a trap leading to friction
buffer stop A buffer stop, bumper, bumping post, bumper block or stopblock (US), is a device to prevent Railroad car, railway vehicles from going past the end of a physical section of Track (rail transport), track. The design of the buffer stop is dependen ...
s. There are also
bay platform In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms. They must have a buffer stop ...
s 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 truncated to terminate at from the mid-1990s. 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 An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
with two faces, one on the down main, and one on the down branch line. Platform 1 is mainly used for Clacton-on-Sea trains and occasionally for Norwich trains. 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. To the side of the main ticket office, there is a taxi rank, as well as multiple bus stops. Both entrances to the station have automatic ticket gates. Former train operating company Anglia Railways operated services known as London Crosslink from Norwich to via . This service started in 2000 and ended in 2002.


Accidents

*On 12 July 1913, at approximately 3 pm, an express passenger train travelling at high speed collided with a light engine at Colchester due to a signalman's error. Part of the passenger train was derailed. The train's driver, guard and fireman were killed and 14 passengers were injured. The locomotive of the express – no. 1506 of Class S69 – was so badly damaged that it was scrapped. *On 20 December 1990, Class 312
electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...
312 714 was derailed whilst working a to service.


Services

Trains are operated by Greater Anglia. The typical off-peak service comprises: * 5 tph to * 1 train per hour (tph) to * 3 tph to , of which one continues to * 3 tph to , of which two continue to


References


External links

{{Railway stations served by Abellio Greater Anglia Railway stations in Essex Former Great Eastern Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1843 Railway stations served by Greater Anglia Transport in Colchester 1843 establishments in England William Neville Ashbee railway stations DfT Category B stations