It lies on the Huddersfield Line 6½ miles (10 km) east of Manchester Victoria and is operated by Northern Trains.

[1] When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Regional Railways under arrangement with the Greater Manchester PTE until the privatisation of British Rail.

The London & North Western Railway also ran services along the line, most only calling at Ashton and Stalybridge before continuing to Leeds.

A 3-week engineering blockade in July 2017 saw the track through the station re-aligned and a road underbridge replaced to allow for faster line speeds.

Trains continue beyond Manchester to Bolton and then either Southport (Mondays to Saturdays) or Wigan North Western (Sundays only).