The station is 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Barnsley on the Penistone Line between Huddersfield and Sheffield.

The original station, simply known as "Silkstone", was opened on 1 November 1855 and rebuilt on the same site in the last quarter of the 19th century in the "Double Pavilion" style favoured by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.

The former station master's house remains towards the Penistone end of the present platform.

Little can be seen from the station, but looking at the wall opposite the platform a small rise in the coping stones is detectable which coincides with the arch of the tunnel.

The station is unstaffed and has only basic amenities, including a waiting shelter, bench seating, timetable poster boards and CCTV cameras.