The station was 18½ miles (30 km) west of Edinburgh.

The yard was used to store and unload freight trains carrying new cars.

The goods yard – later the Bathgate car terminal – was moved slightly east in 1996 as the original site of the yard was occupied by various retail outlets.

In 2005, the Scottish Executive declared that in line with plans to upgrade the unfinished part of the A8 to motorway standard, public transport links between Glasgow and Edinburgh must also improve.

The closed section of line between Drumgelloch station and Bathgate would be rebuilt as a double tracked electrified railway, termed the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link.