Shenfield station was opened by the Eastern Counties Railway company on 29 March 1843 on the extension from Brentwood to Colchester. As it was situated in a rural area, patronage was low, so it was closed in March 1850. 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. 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 "metro") trains opened in 1934, resulting in five platforms.