The line was built as narrow gauge (1050 mm) like the rest of the Ottoman railways in the region, and was situated relatively inland to avoid the reach of naval guns from Royal Navy warships patrolling the Mediterranean coast.

After the British conquered the area, they converted the Eastern Railway to standard gauge and extended it further northwards via Hadera, connecting Haifa with Lydda for onward journey west to Jaffa, east to Jerusalem, or south via Gaza City to El Kantara, Egypt.

During the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, Jewish passengers on southbound main line trains alighted at Ras al-Ayn and changed onto buses, in order to avoid passing through Lod.

Yet, on 3 June 2000, the station reopened as the eastern terminus of the new Yarkon Railway passenger service between Tel Aviv and Rosh HaAyin.

US$ 2.2 billion),[2] reinstating a service from Haifa via Hadera and Rosh HaAyin to Lod which would bypass the congested Coastal railway.