A wooden signal box was provided to control the adjacent level crossing, passing loop and nearby goods yard.

Throughout its life the route operated as a self-contained branch, though connections were available for Preston, Liverpool & Blackpool at Ormskirk and for St Helens Central, Wigan Wallgate and Manchester Victoria at Rainford.

[9] The report proposes extending the line from Ormskirk by laying 3 miles of new single track along the previous route to the town, at a cost estimated to be in the region of £31million.

[13] Network Rail has suggested a construction date commencing in April 2021, with services beginning from December 2023,[13] once the single option development and detailed design stages in the GRIP process have been achieved.

The likely route for the new link is southwards to join the Kirkby branch line between Upholland and Rainford rather than the original plans to go north via Ormskirk, so as to enable trains to travel to Wigan & Manchester as well as to Liverpool.

[14] County Council Transport portfolio holder John Fillis said that the site "is big enough to provide a high quality station with scope to expand to meet future demand.".

[15] By September, Merseytravel announced that they would be committing £765,000 to the study into the reopening, estimating that the station could be open within a decade with a lot of additional funding.

[17] Lancashire County Council approved a plan in May 2019 to commission an outline business case into reopening the station which will be presented to the government.