The station, situated 4 miles (6 km) west of Lancaster, serves the town of Morecambe in Lancashire.

The current truncated two-platform station was opened on 29 May 1994, replacing the Midland Railway's earlier terminus, Morecambe Promenade, which was situated 400 m (440 yd) further west, closer to the town's seafront.

The old station building remains in use as a pub and restaurant, but its platforms have been demolished and the site is now occupied by a cinema and the Morecambe indoor market.

That station was itself a replacement for the North Western Railway's original two-platform terminus at Northumberland Street, which opened in 1851 and closed in March 1907.

The lines to platforms 1 and 2 connect 1.6 miles (2.6 km) away at a junction east of Bare Lane station.