The station is located 22 miles (35 km) north of London King's Cross, on the East Coast Main Line.

This section (between Digswell Junction[1] to the south of the viaduct and Woolmer Green) is a significant bottleneck where four lines are reduced to two.

These included an impressive set of coal drops and, from 1884, a private siding for the adjacent beehive works (E. H. Taylor Ltd. from 1900).

Today the goods yard has made way for a car park but the main station building, the worker's cottages and the Cowper Arms remain.

The station is a rare survival of architecture from the early days of the GNR and this is now recognised with listed building status.