[5] Brunswick station opened when the railway line from North Melbourne was extended to Coburg.

Like the suburb itself, the station was named after Brunswick Park, a property that was purchased by Thomas Wilkinson and a partner.

[8][9][10] In 1998, boom barriers replaced hand gates at the Albert Street level crossing, at the up end of the station,[11] and replaced interlocked gates at the Victoria Street level crossing, at the down end of the station.

[14] The decision to build two stations in different locations instead of rebuilding Jewell, Brunswick and Anstey generated significant criticism from residents and the local council.

Local newspaper Brunswick Voice reported that the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Danny Pearson, claimed "the decision to build two stations followed 18 months of technical and engineering assessments which found fewer stations would boost capacity on the line in the future and deliver more open space", noting that "[the government claimed] the plan would also minimise the impact to heritage in the area, but [the politician] provided no detail about whether the three station buildings and the historic boom gate operators' cabins would be preserved".