Colchester railway station (also known as Colchester North) 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 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 cross the main line. 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.