A coach yard is adjacent to the station and is used to store trains during weekends and overnight hours.

Trains that traveled to Chicago passed through an entire fare zone to reach Woodstock.

It is the westernmost station of the Metra system; the next most westerly stop is Elburn on the Union Pacific West Line.

Being Chicago's most northwesterly commuter rail station, the Harvard station attracts commuters from the Rockford and Belvidere region of northern Illinois as well as south-central Wisconsin.

As of 2018[update], Harvard is the 151st busiest of the 236 non-downtown stations in the Metra system, with an average of 265 weekday boardings.