The station, situated 5+3⁄4 miles (9 km) east of Middlesbrough, served the Teesside Steelworks, Redcar and Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England.

[1] It is situated on a re-sited portion of route that was commissioned to allow the previous alignment to be used for an expansion of the Teesside Steelworks.

[3] In the 2017–18 period it was named the least used station in Britain, with only forty entries and exits, surpassing Barry Links.

However, work to regenerate the site of the former Teesside Steelworks is being undertaken by South Tees Development Corporation, which aims to redevelop the station and improve services.

Heading east, two trains per day operated to Saltburn, which commenced at Hexham via Hartlepool (morning) and Bishop Auckland (afternoon) respectively.