The station is one of the important InterCityExpress rail hubs in the eastern Ruhr area and is among the high-profile buildings of Hamm.

Until the decline of rail freight after the Second World War, it featured one of Europe's largest marshalling yards.

[3] Due to the explosive increase in traffic at the height of the industrial age, the station was soon unable to cope with the growing demand.

However, this did not provide real relief, and therefore the station area underwent major reconstruction starting in 1911 and finishing by 1929.

The yard serving the east–west trains (operated from signal box Hvw) was one of the first to receive a mechanised hump in 1925.

Over the years, Hamm prospered and grew quite notably due to its newfound role as a railway town.

During World War II, the station was a prime target due to its strategic location and its large marshalling yard and suffered from numerous air attacks.

In 1985, the station hall was modernised in a contemporary style, and the front walls were clad with sheet metal.

Public opinion, however, was not in favour of the typical 1980s building style, and the topic of renovation resurfaced as early as the mid-1990s.

The station building is fully accessible to the disabled and features lifts to all platforms except to tracks 12 and 13.

Hamm is also the terminus of the Hamm-Osterfelder Bahn, which lost its passenger traffic in 1983 but is still a notable freight railway.