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.

The station was opened on 29 March 1843 by the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) and was named simply as Colchester.

[3] 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.

This problem was heightened on summer weekends when large numbers of holiday trains destined for Clacton-on-Sea were added to the schedules.

Prior to electrification of the lines, Colchester was modernised in 1962, with a new station building on the north side of the tracks.

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.

To the side of the main ticket office, there is a taxi rank, as well as multiple bus stops.