The station, situated 30 miles 60 chains (49.5 km) south-east of Carlisle, serves the market town of Appleby-in-Westmorland in Cumbria, England.

The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders.

A pre-nationalisation milepost on the southbound platform marks the station's location 277+1⁄4 miles (446.2 km) miles from London (St Pancras) on the Midland Railway route via Leicester, Derby, Sheffield and Leeds.

Step-free access to both is also available, via the road underbridge & ramps to the southbound platform, direct from the station entrance for northbound travellers.

To the north are a number of engineers sidings, which once formed the connection to the Eden Valley branch to Warcop, Kirkby Stephen East and Barnard Castle; an active signal box was repaired and refurbished in the autumn of 2019 to fix issues with rotten timbers and box foundations.