By the late 1980s the low demand for York-bound passengers meant that only a handful of stopping trains used the line.

South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, responding to increasing demand for Sheffield-Leeds passengers in the area, and a lack of capacity on the Sheffield-Barnsley-Leeds line, sponsored an hourly service via Bolton and opened new stations at Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe.

Though there is step-free access from the car park onto the platforms, Northern's station information page states that it is unsuitable for use by disabled passengers.

From Monday to Saturday, there is an hourly service to Sheffield southbound and to Leeds via Wakefield Westgate northbound.

One additional service also calls here en route to Pontefract Baghill and York northbound only in the morning peak.