It lies on the Midland Main Line, which connects Sheffield with London St Pancras.

[1] In 1892, the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, later to become the Great Central Railway, crossed under the North Midland line 0.5 miles (800 m) south at Horns Bridge to Chesterfield Central station 200 yards west of this station.

In 1897, the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway arrived, crossing both North Midland and Great Central lines at Horns Bridge with a viaduct 700 feet long, leading to Chesterfield Market Place station at West Bars, near the Market Place.

The Great Central station closed in March 1963[2] and was demolished in 1973 to make way for the town's inner relief road.

The station was extensively rebuilt shortly after Midland Mainline took over its operation from British Rail in 1996.

[5][6] Entrance to the station is on Crow Lane and includes a car park, taxi rank and bus stop.

The main entrance leads to the station concourse, which was built in the late 1990s; it includes a ticket office, a newsagent, a café and a waiting room.