The station is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line 11+1⁄2 miles (18.5 km) west of Cardiff Central towards Bridgend via Barry and before Llantwit Major.

Following its recent reopening with a new name (the station was known as "Rhoose" before it closed in 1964),[1] this station now holds the distinction of having the longest name for a station as recognised by National Rail in the UK, in both English (33 letters, excluding spaces) and Welsh (Maes Awyr Rhyngwladol Caerdydd Y Rhws – 28 letters, as dd, ng and rh are single letters in Welsh).

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch railway station arguably has a longer name, but the village in question was deliberately given a contrived name for that very reason, and the station is known officially as either Llanfairpwll or Llanfairpwllgwyngyll – the longer name is not shown on National Rail information documents.

Historically, there was a second "longer" station name, as before 2007 Golf Halt on the privately-owned Fairbourne Railway (a heritage railway tourist attraction) was known as "Gorsafawddachaidraigddanheddogleddollônpenrhynareurdraethceredigion", a grammatically-incorrect pseudo-Welsh name that was coined for the express purpose of rivaling Llanfairpwllgwyngyll.

On Sundays there is a two-hourly service in each direction, with eastbound trains terminating at Cardiff Central.