By the late 1980s the low demand for York-bound passengers meant that only a handful of stopping trains used the line.

South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, responding to increasing demand for Sheffield-Leeds passengers in the area, and a lack of capacity on the Sheffield-Barnsley-Leeds line, sponsored an hourly service via Bolton to Wakefield Westgate & Leeds, and opened new stations at Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe.

The layout here is very similar to neighbouring Thurnscoe (and other stations opened on the same route, e.g. Sandal and Agbrigg and Outwood), namely two wooden platforms with basic shelters on each side.

[2] Monday to Saturday there is an hourly service to Rotherham Central and Sheffield southbound and Leeds northbound.

[3] One service on the Dearne Valley line to York also calls on weekday and Saturday mornings in the northbound direction only.