The town was named in honour of William Hodgins Biggar, who was the railway company's General Counsel.

It was one of the largest GTP stations in western Canada and featured a 24-hour-per-day restaurant for passengers and railway employees.

In 1990, further budget cuts to Via Rail saw the Super Continental cut once again; however, the Canadian which had run on the Canadian Pacific Railway in southern Saskatchewan from Winnipeg via Regina to Calgary, Alberta, and on to Vancouver, British Columbia, was shifted to the more northerly CN line running through Biggar.

The railway played a significant role in the development of the western provinces and many settlements such as Biggar, grew up from stations along the line.

Biggar was a division point for Canadian National Railway (CN) in its freight service, which closed in April, 2014.