The station lies 4.5 miles (7 km) south west of Liverpool Lime Street on the Chester and Ellesmere Port branches of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail network.

All long-distance services called at Rock Ferry to give interchange connections with the Mersey railway for Liverpool bound passengers.

Recent refurbishment work to the station has included the restoration of a building on the island platform and installation of a fully accessible toilet and waiting room.

The old Merseyrail terminating tracks are now used as stabling sidings with the platforms only having one or two passenger services to Liverpool starting in the early in the morning.

The only access to the Chester/Ellesmere Port bound platform for passengers with wheelchairs or prams is via a stepped ramp.

[3] Trains operate every 15 minutes between Chester and Liverpool on weekdays and Saturdays until late evening when the service becomes half-hourly, as it is on Sundays.