The station is located on the West Coast Main Line just south of Preston, and is the approximate halfway point between Glasgow and London, some 198 miles in either direction, with a placard on Leyland Trucks' Spurrier works stating this fact.

The station is currently a four-platform hub, with a part-time ticket office (staffed 06:45-17:45 Mondays to Saturdays and 08:15-15:45 Sundays).

[2] In 2011 new digital display screens were installed as well as an automated ticket machine and a new ticket office was built in 2014; A new pedestrian footbridge with lifts was built in 2016 bringing step-free access to all four platforms[3] and an automated PA system was installed in 2018.

Former franchise holder First North Western ran Euston services from Blackpool which called at Leyland in the late 1990s but these were soon discontinued.

Works were undertaken in 2023 and 2024 to extend the platforms to allow all doors to open, and as of December 15th 2024, six-carriage services operate fully at the station.