The station is staffed throughout the week, with most amenities (booking office, toilets, coffee shop and vending machine) in the main building on platforms 1.

[3] The station's low level platforms (Numbered 3 & 4) are located on the Sheffield to Lincoln Line and are served by Northern Trains services which are operated using Class 150 and 195 DMUs.

It was originally intended that the improvement programme would be completed by July 2021, but the project was set back by flooding and finally concluded on 15 December.

The current buildings date from 1891-2 and the reason for listing was given as "the very rare survival of the original finishes in the dining room and refreshment room" which are said to be ornate and featuring "fine craftsmanship"; the "remarkably long and well-balanced composition in the Italianate style" of the station buildings and the "impressive" canopy over the platform; and the well-preserved platform which make it "one of the most intact medium-sized GNR stations".

[7][8] The Retford Times (1913) presents a memoir of William Briggs (b 1839) who recalled the arrival of the first locomotive: "The speculation and guesses as to what a steam train would be like, when it began to be talked about, was general.

It arrived on a Saturday, and going down Dixon's Bridge, the weight sunk the wheels on one side to the axle, and it had to remain till Monday.

'The Retford Times also published the memories of Frank George (b 1879) who worked at WH Smith & Sons railway station bookstall.

"If any special guests were staying at Welbeck Abbey, a magnificent equipage would bring them to Retford station, cockaded footmen and coachmen and occasionally postillion riders, a wonderful experience for any lad.

These works also necessitated the removal of the direct north-to-east curve, meaning that trains between Sheffield and Lincoln could no longer call at the original platforms without a reversal.

By 1865, the Retford Cattle Company was holding markets on a site to the east of West Carr Road and north of the railway line.

[15] Bill Bryson comments of Retford station, in his book Notes from a Small Island, that it is shown on railway maps in a typeface (and large filled circle graphic) marking it as equivalent to much more notable cities in northern England, and he therefore deemed it worth a visit.

Michael Palin of Monty Python fame recalls frequently visiting Retford station as a youngster for trainspotting, as it was in easy reach of his home city of Sheffield and provided access to legendary locomotives like Flying Scotsman running on the East Coast Main Line.