It is managed by Southern, but trains calling at the station are operated by Thameslink.

The original station was opened in July 1841 by the London and Brighton Railway, which became the London Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1846.

The station then passed on to the Southern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

When sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Railways.

All services at Balcombe are operated by Thameslink using Class 700 EMUs.