It is 29 miles 60 chains (47.9 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Ingatestone to the west and Hatfield Peverel to the east.

When the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) opened the line between Brentwood and Colchester in 1843, the geography of Chelmsford meant that an 18-arch viaduct had to be built across what is now the city's Central Park.

[2] A three-storey building on today's site was constructed in 1885 by the Great Eastern Railway (GER), into which the ECR had been merged.

An unusual signal box (being some five storeys high at the rear) on the London-bound platform controlled the station including, at the eastern end, a set of sidings that served the goods yard and Hoffman ball bearing factory.

The avoiding line has been removed and the sidings were reduced to serve only a mail sorting office and building materials yard.