Situated 9.25 miles (15 km) south west of Leeds on the main line to Huddersfield and Manchester, the station was opened by the London and North Western Railway in 1848.

The station is managed by TransPennine Express, who provide trains to Leeds, Huddersfield, Manchester, York, Hull and Redcar Central.

There are waiting rooms on each platform, along with digital display screens, customer help points, timetable poster boards and automated announcements to offer train running information.

[4] In summer 2018, Kirklees Council started work on making improvements to the outside of the station.

Plans included pedestrianizing the area directly outside the station and redesigning the car park entrances to improve traffic flow.