Chelmsford
National Rail
Chelmsford railway station, including its disused signal box above the platform canopy
General information
LocationChelmsford, City of Chelmsford
England
Grid referenceTL705070
Managed byGreater Anglia
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeCHM
ClassificationDfT category C1
History
Opened1843
Passengers
2018/19Increase 8.927 million
2019/20Decrease 8.606 million
 Interchange  33,284
2020/21Decrease 1.717 million
 Interchange Decrease 10,518
2021/22Increase 4.596 million
 Interchange Increase 31,390
2022/23Increase 5.785 million
 Interchange Increase 43,397
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Chelmsford railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line in the East of England, serving the city of Chelmsford, Essex. 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.[1] Its three-letter station code is CHM.

The station is currently operated by Greater Anglia, who also operate all trains serving it, as part of the East Anglia franchise. Westbound trains terminate at Liverpool Street and eastbound trains run to a number of destinations including Braintree, Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester Town, Ipswich and Norwich.

History

Street-level entrance to the station in 1984

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. The first Chelmsford station was built slightly to the north of its current site.[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. The present station building dates from a rebuild in 1985 and a further rebuild, completed in 2016, which saw the main concourse and ticket office rebuilt and a new staircase added to serve the London-bound platform, to replace the original flying staircases installed as part of the 1985 rebuild. Since the railway is elevated on a viaduct, the platforms are above street-level.

On 2 March 1907, there was a collision between an up passenger express and a wagon left on the running line during shunting operations. There were no injuries and although the wagon was destroyed the locomotive stayed on the tracks, suffering minor damage.[3]

In 1923, the London and North Eastern Railway took over operation of Chelmsford station, and following nationalisation of the railways in 1948 Chelmsford station came under the management of British Railways Eastern Region. Upon railway sectorisation in the 1980s, the station and its operations came under the Network SouthEast brand until the privatisation of British Rail.

There were originally three lines through the station: two platform lines and an avoiding line between them. 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 signal box ceased to be used in 1994, but the structure has remained in situ since. The avoiding line has been removed and the sidings were reduced to serve only a mail sorting office and building materials yard. The mail platform has been out of use for many years but the sidings saw some intermittent use until 2014, when they were closed for relaying. Lines to the north of the station are used by limited early-morning services that start from Chelmsford running to London and limited late-evening trains from London that terminate at Chelmsford.

The station was extensively refurbished between 2014 and 2016 and included a new larger ticket hall, a new ticket office, new ticket barriers, modernised seating and two waiting rooms. The forecourt was also repaved and new bus shelters were added with real-time information boards.

Services

In 2016 the typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service consists of:[4]

The Sunday service consists of :[5]

References

  1. ↑ Yonge, John (September 2006) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 5C. ISBN 0-9549866-2-8.
  2. ↑ C. J. Wignall 'British Railways Maps & Gazetteer 1825-1985', 1985
  3. ↑ Ashton, Geoff (July 2015). "Collision at Chelmsford". Great Eastern Journal. Vol. 163. Great Eastern Railway Society. pp. 38–47.
  4. ↑ Table 11 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  5. ↑ Table 11 National Rail timetable, May2016
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chelmsford railway station.
Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Greater Anglia
Greater Anglia
  Future services  
Ingatestone   Greater Anglia
Great Eastern Main Line		   Beaulieu Park
Historical railways
Anglia Railways

51°44′10.97″N 0°28′07.74″E / 51.7363806°N 0.4688167°E / 51.7363806; 0.4688167

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