Scheduled services from Chester station are operated by Avanti West Coast to London Euston and Holyhead; Merseyrail to Liverpool Central; Northern to Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds; and Transport for Wales to Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Airport, Crewe, Birmingham New Street, Cardiff Central, Llandudno and Holyhead.

It was built by a workforce of around 2,000 people, including bricklayers, stonemasons, carpenters, roofers, plumbers and other skilled and unskilled workers.

The opening was met with great acclaim amongst the city's populace due to the wide range of destinations that could be reached for the first time.

[5] The station building is built of Staffordshire blue brick and pale grey Storeton sandstone with slate roofs[7][8] in the Italianate style.

B. Joyce & Co on the front of the station was originally located centrally, but was moved to the western half of the facade following the construction of the Queen Hotel, which obscured it.

[7] Several carved wooden owls occupy locations in the roof beams above platform 4 to deter feral pigeons from roosting.

Early on, it became highly trafficked, partially due to its position as a junction between multiple lines and railway companies.

In its first few decades of opening, it was expanded via the construction of sidings, warehouses, signalboxes and two motive power depots to service steam locomotives that belonged to different railway companies.

In 1850 the Birkenhead, Lancashire and Cheshire Junction Railway built a line from Chester to near Warrington, later absorbing the C&BR.

[6] Chester Station was served by GWR express passenger trains (and subsequently by the Western Region of British Railways) from Birkenhead Woodside via Chester, Wrexham, Ruabon, Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Wellington (Shropshire), Wolverhampton, Birmingham Snow Hill, Leamington Spa and Banbury to London Paddington until 4 March 1967.

[6] Peak activity was during the Edwardian era when more than 200 trains called at the station daily and more than one hundred staff were employed.

It survived the conflict unscathed, sustaining no direct hits but to mitigate against aerial attacks, a concrete bunker was built to house signalling equipment.

[5] In January 2016, according to the Office of Rail and Road, passenger numbers doubled over the previous ten years, making Chester the eighth-busiest station in the North-West region.

Architectural lighting was installed in strategic areas and a new concourse was opened by Arriva Trains Wales in October 2008.

[5] The line provides frequent rapid access to the Wirral, Birkenhead and all four underground stations in central Liverpool.

There is a payphone, vending machine, booking office and live departure and arrival screens, for passenger information.