[1] It was opened in 1851 by the Royston and Hitchin Railway as the northern terminus of an extension of the original route from Royston, after earlier plans by the Eastern Counties Railway to build a Cambridge to Bedford line through the village fell through due to lack of finance.

The ECR did complete the line north through to a junction with its main line from London to Cambridge in 1852 and initially ran services on the R&HR, but they later gave way to the Great Northern Railway when its lease of the Royston company expired in 1866.

The GNR then began running through trains between Kings Cross & Cambridge over the line from 1 April that year, having gained full running powers over ECR metals and access to Cambridge station as part of an agreement ratified by parliament two years previously.

From 1978, through trains to the capital temporarily ceased when electric operation was inaugurated to Royston as part of the Kings Cross Outer Suburban electrification scheme.

The typical off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between Cambridge and London King's Cross.