[3] It sees trains operated by Greater Anglia to main line destinations including Chelmsford, Colchester and Ipswich, as well as branch line stations such as Southminster, Braintree, Harwich Town, Colchester Town and Clacton-on-Sea.

Shenfield station was opened by the Eastern Counties Railway company on 29 March 1843 on the extension from Brentwood to Colchester.

It reopened with the name Shenfield & Hutton Junction on 1 January 1887 under the Great Eastern Railway to serve as an interchange station with the new line to Southend that was completed two years later.

Under the London and North Eastern Railway, two extra tracks for terminating local (suburban "metro") trains opened in 1934, resulting in five platforms.

The London and North Eastern Railway opened the Southend Loop to the east of the station on 1 January 1934.

This enabled Southend trains to and from platforms 4 and 5 to dive-under the main line thus eliminating conflicting movements.