The station was opened in 1852 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) on its main line from King's Cross to Doncaster.

The tracks through the station site are now part of the electrified East Coast Main Line.

[6][7] However, it was only ever possible to catch trains along two sides of the triangle, i.e. between: Traffic along the third side of the triangle between Tuxford Central and Tuxford North was mainly freight, supplemented by summer weekend excursions from the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire area to the Yorkshire coast; these passed through both stations without stopping.

Only one train in each direction called at Tuxford North on Sundays, on which days Dukeries Junction was closed.

Tracks through the site of Dukeries Junction's low level platforms were slewed[clarification needed] when the East Coast Main Line was electrified, enabling trains to go faster.