The single track branch line of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway between Three Bridges and Horsham was opened on 14 February 1848.

A planning application[5] was approved on 16 August 2016 for the demolition and redevelopment of the station buildings to include residential apartments, retail space and multi-storey car parking.

[7][needs update] Services at Crawley are operated by Southern and Thameslink using Class 377 and 700 EMUs.

On Sundays, there is an hourly Southern service between London Victoria and Bognor Regis and Portsmouth Harbour, which divides at Barnham (instead of Horsham), and an hourly Thameslink service between Horsham and Bedford (instead of Peterborough).

It is a tall box with a timber superstructure on a brick base and was built by the firm of Saxby and Farmer.