The London and South Western Railway opened the station on 2 July 1888,[1] three years after completing the two routes that serve it.

[2] Both routes were subsequently electrified by the Southern Railway in 1925 and for many years it served as the terminus for trains from the Epsom direction, with a seven-road carriage shed south of the station provided by the SR to allow empty EMU sets to be reversed and stabled clear of the main running lines.

The latter are a holdover from the British Rail-era timetables of the 1970s and 1980s, when the Epsom line had regular services to London Victoria as well as to Waterloo.

[4] It was also served in the late 1980s/early 1990s by Thameslink services between Luton and Guildford via Herne Hill and West Croydon, but these ended in 1994 shortly before the privatisation of the UK railway network.

[6] There is a chargeable car park and large bicycle storage facility located at the station.