The station underwent an extensive remodelling between 2006 and 2008; new platforms were added and a new ticket office and entrance building were constructed.

The present station, managed by Avanti West Coast, is located roughly half a mile north of Rugby town centre.

Off-peak weekday service in trains per hour (tph) is: Since the 1960s, Rugby is served only by the West Coast Main Line.

In the chainage notation traditionally used on the railway, the station is 82 miles 4 chains (82.05 mi; 132.05 km) from Euston.

[7] Until the 1960s Rugby station served several other railway lines, which were closed mostly as part of the Beeching Axe.

However great difficulty in constructing the Kilsby Tunnel in Northamptonshire delayed the full opening of the line, which was not finished in time for the coronation of Queen Victoria on 28 June 1838.

Aware of the lucrative traffic the event would generate, the company opened the north end of the line, between Birmingham and Rugby, and the south end from London to a temporary station at Denbigh Hall near Bletchley, with a stagecoach shuttle service linking the two parts to allow through journeys to London.

The line was officially fully opened on 17 September 1838, with the first passenger train from London to Birmingham arriving that day.

[14][15] At the time of the railway's construction, Rugby was a small market town of around 2,500 inhabitants, notable only for its school.

The town was around half a mile to the south, uphill from the station, which at the time was located in open countryside.

A new road, Railway Terrace had to be built to link it to the town centre, because at the time it was located in open countryside.

Dickens's train made an unscheduled stop at Rugby due to one of the carriages catching fire.

While waiting for his journey to resume, he went into the refreshment room for a cup of coffee, and the proprietess, clearly not recognising the celebrity author, treated him rudely.

Inspired by this, his story 'Mugby Junction' in chapter three made a scathing attack on railway refreshment rooms and their staff.

[21] The condition of the roof deteriorated, and in the 1980s the glass over the tracks was removed, and finally the entire structure was dismantled between 2000 and 2002 when it became unstable, and was replaced with modern canopies over the platforms.

[24] The station itself also underwent a major £170 million redevelopment which included:[25][26][27] It was at one time thought that remodelling of the track layout would entail complete demolition of the present station,[28] but the final plans involved retention of the existing island platform and buildings.

This was a 'heavy' girder bridge of two substantial spans over the West Coast Main Line to the east ('up' side) of the station.

[31] Situated to the south of the station and erected in 1895, it spanned three tracks and carried forty-four semaphore arms.

Every arm was duplicated due to sighting difficulties that resulted from the Great Central Railway's 'Birdcage' bridge crossing the WCML behind the gantry's location.

Initially, its area of control was limited to a portion of the WCML between Kings Langley and Linslade Tunnel.

[35] Bus route 4, operated by Stagecoach Midlands, connects the railway station with Rugby town centre and the suburbs of Cawston and Bilton.

[36] Bus route D1 and D2, operated by Stagecoach Midlands, previously connected the railway station with Rugby town centre, now replaced on this section by services 1 and 2, which connects with buses D1 and D2 to the suburbs of Barby, Braunston, Brownsover, DIRFT, Hillmorton, and Kilsby.