It is 59 miles 35 chains (95.66 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Colchester to the west and Ipswich to the east.

In 1926 the London and North Eastern Railway installed a new power box at Manningtree South which controlled all three junctions.

[3] Today, the north to east curve connecting Ipswich with Harwich Town is a single track, having been reduced from double-track.

A second peculiar feature just east of the station is a combination of a road underpass and a level crossing.

There is a side-gate west of the station building for use outside of office hours and a self-service ticket machine is also available here.