The Salisbury and Yeovil Railway (S&YR) opened the second part of its line on 7 May 1860, extending westwards from Gillingham through Templecombe (the 'Upper' station) to Sherborne.

[1] The S&YR never operated any trains, which were provided by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR).

In March 1870 this connection was closed and a new north-to-west curve was opened that brought S&DJR trains directly to a third platform at the Upper station;[1] this allowed the S&YR line to be doubled.

This northern connection brought more traffic to Templecombe where interchange could be made with the LSWR network in Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

In 1938 the station was modernised, a footbridge replaced the subway and the platforms were extended to cope with trains 14 coaches long.

An ambulance train was stationed at Templecombe during World War II and kept in constant readiness to move casualties from ports on the south coast to military hospitals.

Goods traffic at Templecombe ceased on 5 April 1965 and the Lower Platform was closed on 3 January 1966.

[3] The station buildings were demolished in 1968, but the signal box was retained, and from April 1967, the line from Templecombe to Gillingham reverted to a single track.

[3] The first suggestion of reopening the station came in 1975, and Somerset County Council carried out a survey of people living in and around the village to establish whether such a move would be supported by area residents.

The local community formed the Templecombe Station Working Committee (TSWC) to campaign for the reopening.

On 5 September 1982, the TSWC arranged for a train to Paignton to call to test the demand for a service, and 270 passengers bought tickets.

[3] The services proved so successful that a new waiting shelter was provided in 1988, and an extension with toilets was added two years later.

After the commissioning of a new signalling system, controlled from Basingstoke, in March 2012, ticket office staffing hours were reduced.

To resolve this, the disused platform on the south side, where there is level access to the car park and streets beyond, was extended out across the disused trackbed up to the active set of tracks, and was provided with a basic shelter and lighting, an automatic ticket machine, and information boards.

[4] The platform on the south side, which is still in use for passengers, has a ticket office and a shelter and is adjacent to the car park.

South Western Railway operate hourly services to London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids.