Historically, the station was planned to be the southern terminus of a new line running from the Midlands to the South Coast, and delivering holidaymakers to the new town of West Worthing; it was consequently built near the northern end of Grand Avenue, which runs from the station to the sea.

It was expanded by the addition of a large goods yard in 1905 which catered for the produce of the large number of market gardens in the area, but by 1932 part of the yard was given over to the carriage sheds which, until mid-2008, stood to the west of the station.

On 19 November 2020, a Southern Class 313 EMU numbered 313220 caught fire on platform 2 of the station.

[3] All services at West Worthing are operated by Southern using Class 377 EMUs.

A number of additional peak hours services to Brighton also start from this station.