The station was opened by the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway on 23 August 1848 as Gretna.

[1] The Glasgow and South Western Railway renamed the station Gretna Green in April 1852.

[1] In 1975, the site of the station became the eastern end of a single line section to Annan, as part of the route rationalisation carried out by British Rail, following the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.

The station was reopened on 20 September 1993 by British Rail, with just one platform on the northern side of the line to the west of the previous station, coinciding with the western end of the points marking the end of the single track section from Annan.

[2][3][4] The Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway station was one of three serving the town of Gretna, the others being: Following the May 2021 timetable change, there is a mostly an uneven hourly to 2 hourly service (Monday to Saturday) heading north-west towards Dumfries, with seven trains of these to Glasgow Central via Kilmarnock.