When the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway opened on 14 March 1861, it passed over a level crossing on Tanners Lane, which led to the sea at Goodrington.

Building the line across the marsh at Goodrington proved difficult but was achieved by laying redundant pipes from the failed atmospheric railway between Exeter and Newton in the ground for drainage.

[1] It was not until 9 July 1928 that a small station, initially known simply as "Goodrington", was opened on the Kingswear side of the level crossing.

More carriage sidings were laid behind the platform and a 65 feet (20 m) turntable and locomotive facilities provided, mainly to handle the heavy traffic on summer Saturdays.

The MP for Torbay, Kevin Foster, called in January 2023 for the reopening of the station for trains to the national rail network.

This is mainly intended for visitors to Quay West, the blue water chute of which is behind the Down platform on the site of the former station car park.