It is the most important station of its region and is owned by the Ferrovie dello Stato, the national rail company of Italy.

The station was opened on 3 June 1866, as southern terminal of the first track of the Ionian Railway to Catanzaro, Crotone, Sybaris and Taranto.

The northern track to Villa San Giovanni, linking the station to the Battipaglia–Reggio di Calabria railway, was completed in 1884.

[2] As of the December 2023 timetable change,[update] the following services stop at Reggio di Calabria Centrale:[3] The new station building, projected following the modern criteria of the futurist architect Angiolo Mazzoni, was inaugurated on 18 April 1938.

For long-distance transport it counts some InterCity, Express and EuroStar trains to Rome, Turin, Milan, Venice, Bari and Bolzano, linking it also with Genoa, Naples, Bologna, Florence, Pisa, Verona and other cities.