The station shares its name with the local football ground, The Hawthorns, the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C., which it serves.

Between 1931 and 1968, The Hawthorns Halt partly occupied the site of the current station, opened by the Great Western Railway on their London (Paddington) to Birkenhead via Birmingham (Snow Hill) line.

[2] The present station was opened in 1995, as part of the "Jewellery Line" project to restore services to Birmingham Snow Hill, this time it opened as a fully fledged station with regular services on the cross-city Snow Hill Lines.

The Monday to Saturday daytime service sees four trains in per hour each direction, operating westbound towards Kidderminster via Stourbridge Junction and eastbound towards Birmingham Snow Hill.

Chiltern Railways also serve the station with one train to Stourbridge Junction on weekdays only, from London Marylebone.