It is served by South Western Railway, and is 13 miles 73 chains (22.4 km) down the line from London Waterloo, in Travelcard Zone 6.

The station was built to a design of Southern Railway architect James Robb Scott and opened on 28 May 1939.

After the continuation to Leatherhead was abandoned, part of line south of the station was used from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1980s for a coal concentration depot.

In 2019 a ramp was added to the station, providing step-free access to the single platform from street level.

The typical service on all days of the week is two trains per hour to and from London Waterloo via Wimbledon which start and terminate at Chessington South.