It is situated on the Redditch/Bromsgrove-Birmingham New Street-Four Oaks-Lichfield Cross-City Line 7+1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) north east of Birmingham New Street.

The station was constructed in 1862, as the northern terminus of the line from Birmingham built by the London and North Western Railway.

The station was the location of the Sutton Coldfield train disaster on 23 January 1955 when an express from York to Bristol travelling at excessive speed derailed.

[1] From 1978, the station became one of those served by the new Cross-City Line, sponsored by the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive.

The southbound platform was repainted and a former wooden ticket office removed because it had become a target for vandalism and concerns were raised about its fire safety.