Trains at Colchester, GEML, 09/07/24

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, and is the primary station serving the city of Colchester, Essex. Its three-letter station code is COL. It is 51 miles 52 chains (83.1 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and on the GEML is situated between Marks Tey to the west and Manningtree 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 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 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.
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).
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 city having felt isolated by development of the railway 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) 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.
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 Basingstoke via Stratford. This service started in 2000 and ended in 2002.
Duration of the video: 14:30 - 15:25
We’ll be seeing services by Greater Anglia & some freight as well in the duration of this video.
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I really appreciated my time that was spent at Colchester however I was expecting more freight during the time I was there however some freight were running late that day plus the weather wasn’t that pleasant either but 2 is better than nothing though I would’ve spent more time at Colchester but it started to rain more heavily now if it wasn’t that bad I would’ve been there longer but it’s not a big worry though.
My next station will be Stafford which is situated on the West Coast Mainline it’s been quite a long time since I last visited there but I’m sure I’ll enjoy my time there and will be a nice place to revisit as well so until then thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next video.