The station was opened together with the Ferrybridge to Moorthorpe section of the Swinton and Knottingley Joint Railway.

In the Strategic Rail Authority's 2002/3 financial year, only 15 people bought tickets for journeys from Pontefract Baghill station, and 21 bought tickets for journeys ending there,[3] making it the sixth least busy station in the United Kingdom at that time.

The annual usage in recent years is still considerably lower than that of Monkhill and Tanshelf stations.

The only other facilities offered are bench seating, a public telephone and timetable information posters (the old main building still stands but is in private use).

As of May 2023, the station is served by a limited service of three trains per day in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays only which run northbound to York and southbound to Sheffield.