The station layout has undergone few changes other than the singling of the ex-NER Tyne Valley route to London Road Junction in the 1972–73 re-signalling scheme, which was associated with the electrification of the West Coast Main Line (WCML).

On 10 September 1847, it was officially opened to rail traffic, even though construction was incomplete and only one long through platform with a bay at each end had been finished.

[3] The main station buildings have a multi-bay sandstone facade of two storeys, capped by rows of slate roofs at differing levels.

While construction was taking place, the opening of the Midland Railway's Settle–Carlisle line generated more freight trains from August 1875, and passenger services, started in April 1876.

Below the platforms, the undercroft contains a network of passageways, offices, service rooms and staff accommodation; parts of the underground areas are reputed to be haunted.

[3] The girders supported a series of slender balanced cantilever half-truss hooped beams at approximately 3.7m centres, spanning the tracks.

The roof was glazed using shingled panels, possibly making use of Rendel's patented Indestructible System, and was designed by Edinburgh-based engineering firm Blyth & Cunningham.

[3] Between October 2010 and March 2011, a series of improvements were performed at Carlisle Station, focused upon its passenger amenities, such as the waiting, meeting and seating areas.

[4] The steel trusses were found to have been sagging in places, which was speculated to have been a result not only of the structure's age but also come as a consequence of the alterations performed during the 1950s, having been exacerbated by the adoption of rigid glazing and insufficient drainage systems.

Multiple panels have cracked or broken, resulting in the deployment of several nets to catch falling glass, while rain water often pooled in areas of the roof rather than draining away.

[4] Furthermore, maintenance activities were complicated by a lack of access to the roof on the part of safety restrictions, preventing even routine cleaning, thus the panels were perpetually dirty and provided poor natural lighting conditions throughout the platforms.

[4] Construction company Galliford Try served as the principal contractor performing the roof replacement, while Vector Foiltec manufactured and fitted the EFTE sheets.

[7] The station is a fully staffed facility during normal hours; the booking office is typically open each day from the start of services in the morning up until 20:00 in the evening.

Train running information is provided across the station in the form of auditory announcements over a public address system, along with a series of distributed digital display screens.

Freight trains formerly used a goods line to the west to bypass the station, but this was closed in 1984 after a runaway rake of container wagons derailed at high speed on the River Caldew bridge at Dentonholme, damaging it beyond economic repair.

Long-distance services are operated by Avanti West Coast, with the main routes being London Euston–Glasgow Central and Scotland–Birmingham New Street-London Euston and TransPennine Express Scotland-Manchester.

The following trains call at Carlisle: For most of the day Avanti West Coast operate:[16][17] Southbound: Northbound: Provide an hourly service Manchester Airport to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central (alternating).

[20] London North Eastern Railway services call at Carlisle on a couple of weekends a year when the East Coast Main Line is closed for engineering work.

[citation needed] All Caledonian Sleeper services pass through Carlisle once a night except Saturdays (and engineering diversions) on their journey between London Euston and several Scottish destinations.

Some are even of classes which never visited Carlisle in steam days, including: Castles, Kings, Halls, Merchant Navys and Light Pacifics.

Steam locomotives that are known to have visited Carlisle over the years include: 5043 Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, 6201 Princess Elizabeth, 6233 Duchess of Sutherland, 34067 Tangmere, 35018 British India Line, Black Five 44871, 45690 Leander, 45699 Galatea, 46115 Scots Guardsman, 60103 Flying Scotsman, 60163 Tornado, 61306 Mayflower and 71000 Duke of Gloucester.

The routes vary from travelling northbound over Shap Summit on the WCML and returning south down the Settle & Carlisle line or vice versa.

All services towards Glasgow and Edinburgh over the WCML were suspended due to flood-related damage to the River Clyde bridge at Lamington (caused by Storm Frank).

[21] Following better than expected weather conditions and delivery of key components earlier than planned, the work was completed ahead of schedule and trains resumed on 22 February 2016.

[22] This followed on from previous disruption caused by Storm Desmond on 5–6 December 2015 when flooding just north of the station at the bridge over the River Caldew led to a temporary suspension of services to and from Scotland and subsequent major delays to trains for more than two weeks.

[24] Further ground movement at the landslip site at Eden Brows led to the suspension of all services as far south as Appleby on 9 February 2016, as Network Rail engineers deemed that it was no longer safe to operate trains over the affected portion of line.