The railway became a cycle path in the 1980s, and is a popular resting point on the route as several of the station's walls and platforms are still in situ.

The line was converted to locomotive operation and 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad-gauge, with services beginning in July 1844.

[3] In March 1845, the Railways Board resolved "that a station on the cheapest scale be established at Mangotsfield".

It was located 0.5 miles (0.8 km) east of the village, just south of what is now the B4465 Main Road in the hamlet of Shortwood, at the junction with the Avon and Gloucestershire Railway.

[note 1] It took until 1866 for another station – Fishponds, 2 miles 45 chains (4.12 km) to the west – to be opened between Mangotsfield and Bristol.

[2]: 147  From 1870, most Bristol-bound trains were diverted from Temple Meads to Bristol St Philip's, which the Midland Railway had opened after noting that many travellers from Mangotsfield and other branches found the location of Temple Meads to be inconvenient and would thus take the omnibus instead.

The Midland initially operated 13 trains per day between Clifton Down and Mangotsfield, terminating in the bay platform.

[12]: 40–41  1874 also saw the opening of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, which had its northern terminus at Bath Green Park, providing more passengers for the branch.

Trains from the north would frequently use the eastern side of the Mangotsfield triangle and continue on south from Bath.

Opening from this central booking-hail are three waiting-rooms for ladies, gentlemen, and third class passengers, all of which are to be suitably fitted up.

The chimney-pieces are a grey Devonshire marble which abounds in fossils, the polished sections of which form geological study for waiting travellers with a fondness for that science.

The former is entered from the down main line side, laid with Minton tiles, and is constructed with improved modern appliances.

The porters' room is fitted with boiler and oven for their convenience.As part of the reconstruction, a large glass roof was built on each platform, using a total of 138 iron posts and 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of rolled plate glass in an iron frame.

A subway, with passages and stairs of Painswick stone, was built to provide access between platforms, replacing the level crossings.

[note 4] Served by a private siding; and with its own cricket pitch, tennis courts and bowling green; the factory became a well-known landmark for rail travellers, as well as an extra source of passengers for the station.

[27] Mangotsfield's peak usage came in the inter-war years, when the station staff consisted of a station master, two booking clerks, two foremen, and three porters; however, Mangotsfield itself never saw the large amounts of traffic it had been built for, and was considered a somewhat desolate place.

[4]: 96 [31] During the Second World War, the glass platform roofs were removed as a precautionary measure in the event of air raids, making the station even more unwelcoming to passengers.

[20] The eastern side of the Mangotsfield triangle closed on 18 September 1962, and, with the Great Western Main Line providing an alternative route from Bristol to Bath, the Beeching Report of 1963 recommended closure of the branch from Mangotsfield to Bath Green Park.

[4]: 97 [34] Goods facilities at the original site of the station were withdrawn on 10 June 1963, and local stopping services between Bristol and Gloucester ended on 4 January 1965.

[4]: 97  The iron pillars which supported the glass platform canopies have been replaced with trees planted by Sustrans volunteers.

[36] The path is lit, but only during winter months, as the lights are turned off in summer to allow glow worms to breed.

A goods train from the north had shunted onto the line towards Bath, on the eastern side of the Mangotsfield triangle.

The last goods van grazed the rest of the excursion train's carriages, smashing the coaches' steps and damaging the side panels.

[49] On 18 February 1926, a wagon examiner named Daniel Alway suffered a fatal accident in the sidings at Mangotsfield.

He was rushed to the Bristol Royal Infirmary, where his lower legs were amputated, however he became septic and died from heart failure on 26 February.

[50] Another trackside worker lost their life at Mangotsfield in 1934: Albert Henry Noad, a platelayer of 35 years' experience, was clearing weeds from the side of the track when he was hit by a passing train.

Coworkers stated Noad needed to be near the rails in order to do his job properly, but did not hear a shouted warning and misjudged the distance to the oncoming train.

[52][53][54] In 1935, two teenage boys were convicted of endangering the lives of railway passengers after they put a fishplate weighing 20 pounds (9.1 kg) on the tracks.