The station was initially opened as a main line station on the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway in 1885, on a new branch connecting London with Southend by a more direct route than the existing service via Rainham.

From 1902 to 1905 the station was served by trains of the District Railway, who connected to the main line at a junction at Bow.

An additional station was opened at Heathway in 1932 and Dagenham East was renamed to its current name in 1949.

These works included the installation of CCTV, provision of customer help points connected to a control room, a new public address system, electronic customer information displays on platforms and in the ticket hall, and the erection of new enclosed waiting areas.

The station has three working platforms that are used by the District line, one for each direction of travel and another for terminating trains from central London during peak times.

In 2015, Barking and Dagenham London Borough Council proposed the platforms on the National Rail route should be re-opened to provide interchange with c2c services, in connection with the Barking Riverside redevelopment to the south of the station.