Shenfield is a major station located in Shenfield in the borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. It lies on the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML) and links Liverpool Street station in the City of London to places in the East of England. It was first opened by the Eastern Counties Railway on 29 March 1843 on the extension from Brentwood to Colchester. As it was in a rural area, patronage was low, so it was closed in 1850, but it reopened as Shenfield & Hutton Junction on 1 January 1887 under the Great Eastern Railway to serve as an interchange with the new railway line to Southend-on-Sea completed two years later. There were three platforms, two up (London-bound) and one down (Country-bound). Under the London and North Eastern Railway, two extra tracks for terminating local (suburban) trains opened in 1934, giving the current five platforms. The station is served by fast trains on the main line to London Liverpool Street and is also the eastern terminus of the Shenfield Metro service. It is planned that Crossrail will terminate here in 2018. The station is 20 miles (32 km) down line from Liverpool Street. Immediately west of the station is Brentwood bank, which descends steeply in the up (London) direction. This bank presented a significant climb to steam trains. There are extensive sidings on the London side of the station just before the start of the descent down the bank. To the east of the station, the lines for Southend diverge with the down line passing under the main lines to Colchester. West of Shenfield there are four tracks, but to the east these split, two towards Colchester and two towards Southend.