The station was opened on 2 January 1893 by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (later part of the Great Central Railway; it became subsequently the LNER on its line from Beighton, on the outskirts of Sheffield, to Annesley in Nottinghamshire, which later became part of the Great Central main line to London.

To the north of the station was a deep cutting where a tunnel was originally intended; fears of damage through mining subsidence forced the change in the plans.

The collieries also closed around this time, although coal mining continued to be a major source of employment for the village, with around 2,000 of Tibshelf's inhabitants still working at local pits as late as the 1980s.

These efforts received a Countryside Award in 1970, as indicated by a plaque at nearby Pilsley where the next station northwards was sited.

The trail runs approximately 12 miles, from Tibshelf to Grassmoor Country Park, though with the filling in of cuttings and removal of embankments it is virtually unrecognisable as a former railway line.