Hurstville station opened on 15 October 1884 on the terminus of the Illawarra railway line from Redfern.

The original station buildings survived underneath until demolished during refurbishment in the early 1990s.

Prior to September 1998, the station received an easy access upgrade which included lifts to each platform.

[9] In late 2019, as part of the Transport for NSW's More Trains More Services program, a crossover was proposed to be built east of the station, to allow Hurstville to Bondi Junction all station services to swap operation from the Illawarra Local tracks to the Illawarra Main tracks and utilise platforms 3 & 4 instead of 1 & 2.

[10] Construction began in 2020 and it was commissioned and brought into service in February 2024, with final works completed in June 2024.