Opened in 1853, it is on the Cotswold Line and was formerly a busy junction with five platform faces, also serving trains on the Great Western Railway's Honeybourne Line between Cheltenham Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon, which formed part of a strategic route between the West Midlands and the West of England.

The whole of the Stratford to Cheltenham line was closed in late August 1976, after derailment of some wagons on a goods train damaged a section of the track.

[7][8] The station became a junction on 12 July 1859 with the opening of a 9.5-mile (15.3 km) link to Stratford-upon-Avon,[7][9] which was continued south to Cheltenham by 1 August 1906.

[10][11][12] The single track from Honeybourne to Stratford was doubled on 9 February 1908,[7] shortly before the route took on main line status on 1 July 1908 with the routing of express passenger trains between Birmingham Snow Hill and Bristol Temple Meads via the newly opened North Warwickshire Line.

[15][16][17][18] The curve, which was later known as the "East Loop",[15][16][17][18] was controlled by a single signalbox that was one of the first in the country to have an interlocking frame mechanically preventing conflicting signal and point levers being pulled.

[7] A 40-foot (12 m) turntable was added after the opening of the link to Stratford, as it was a requirement of the Board of Trade to have one at both ends of a branch line.

[29] Traffic picked up during the Second World War when the station's geographical location at the crossroads of several routes meant that it was very busy.

[15][30] In the same year, the Honeybourne to Cheltenham local service was withdrawn, although through express trains such as the Cornishman continued to use the line until 9 September 1962 after when they were worked via Bromsgrove.

[36] The layout was cut back further in 1971 with the rationalisation of the Oxford to Worcester line and singling of the section between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh on 20 September, after which Honeybourne (Station) South box became a ground frame controlling the junction between the main line and double track to West Loop box.

[36][42][43] Residential development around Honeybourne partly due to its proximity to Long Lartin prison, as well as pressure from the Cotswold Line Promotion Group, led to the ceremonial reopening of the station on 22 May 1981, with the first public services running two days later.

[45] On the night of 15 May 1985, the reinstated east loop was used to stable the Royal Train which was being used by Prince Philip while visiting the area.

[44] In 1981, the structure of Honeybourne North box was donated to the heritage railway by a local resident who had erected it in his garden as a shed.