Two other routes, both now closed, also served the station: the Meon Valley line to Fareham and the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway.

The line from Woking to Alton was electrified in 1937 and the station passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

When sectorisation was introduced in 1986, the station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Rail in 1997.

Alton station is located in the local government district of East Hampshire.

There is a long line public address system providing automated announcements and digital information displays to offer train running details.