Marree station opened on 7 February 1884 at what was then known as Hergott Springs as the terminus of the Central Australia Railway when it was extended from Farina.

[3] On 27 July 1957, Marree became a dual-gauge junction station, when the extension of a heavy-duty standard gauge line was opened originally to convey coal from Telford Cut to Stirling North since the capacity of the flood-prone, lightly constructed narrow gauge line from Port Augusta was inadequate for tonnages required to serve the new Playford A Power Station near Port Augusta, though the extension to Marree was also justified because of the cattle traffic.

The narrow gauge trains north of Marree ceased when a new standard gauge line opened from Tarcoola to Alice Springs in 1980, replacing the Central Australia Railway in its role as the line to Alice Springs.

Two NSU class diesel-electric locomotives (NSU57, NSU60) and two wagons, owned by the Marree Progress Association, are located at the station.

The former 3-kilometre (1.9-mile) turning loop, with cattle yards and a 200-metre (660-foot) freight platform still intact, are to the west of the station.