Colchester railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Colchester | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Location | |||
| Place | Colchester | ||
| Local authority | Borough of Colchester, Essex | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | COL | ||
| Managed by | National Express East Anglia | ||
| Platforms in use | 6 | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Rail Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 * | 4.305 million | ||
| 2005/06 * | 4.287 million | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| * 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. | |||
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Colchester railway station is the main railway station for the town of Colchester in Essex, England. It is located on the former Great Eastern Railway main line from London Liverpool Street to Norwich and is also a junction station for the line to Walton-on-the-Naze and Clacton-on-Sea which diverges from the main line to the south side to the east of the station. The junction is grade separated so that trains passing to and from the Clacton line do not cross the main line. Train services are provided by National Express East Anglia.
Locally, the station is known as Colchester North station, to distinguish it from Colchester Town, but this name is not official. However, local bus services use the unofficial name as a destination. The station is not particularly conveniently sited for the town, but bus services provide a connection to the town centre. Alternatively, there is a train service to Colchester Town which is much nearer to the town centre.
The station has two main platforms. The up side platform (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 620m (2034ft). There are also bay platforms at both ends of the up main platform, the London-end bay (Platform 6) being 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) being used for services to Colchester Town and the all stations 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.
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.
[edit] 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.
- 3 tph to Colchester Town, taking 7 minutes, of which:
- 1 continues to Walton-on-the-Naze, calling at 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.
- 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, calling at Wivenhoe, Alresford (Essex), Great Bentley and Thorpe-le-Soken. It takes 30 minutes to reach Clacton.
- 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.
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Colchester railway station from National Rail
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelmsford | National Express East Anglia National Express East Anglia Intercity |
Manningtree | ||
| Marks Tey | National Express East Anglia Great Eastern Main Line |
Manningtree | ||
| Marks Tey | National Express East Anglia Sunshine Coast Line |
Colchester Town Wivenhoe on Sundays |
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| Marks Tey | Dutchflyer London-Amsterdam |
Manningtree | ||
