It was opened in 1848, along with the line, by the Liverpool and Bury Railway, when the route between the two via Wigan and Bolton was completed.

Westhoughton is also served by Daisy Hill railway station, around 15 minutes on foot from the town centre, on the Manchester-Southport Line, via Atherton.

This is despite the fact that Westhoughton enjoyed similar levels of patronage and at the time was the more likely of the two to remain open as the line through Daisy Hill was regularly threatened with closure or at the very least a reduction in the number of stations.From 2004 to 2012, passenger usage increased by 231%.

[3] In 2008, unspecified development was planned for the station as part of GMPTE's plans to impose a congestion charge on drivers entering Manchester city centre at peak times, and use the funds raised to upgrade public transport provision.

On Sundays an hourly service runs from this station to Wigan North Western westbound and Stalybridge eastbound.

On some weekends this service will be curtailed at Manchester Victoria due to ongoing works as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

On weekends, trains were replaced by buses until the end of 2018 due to ongoing electrification work on the Preston - Bolton - Salford Crescent route (which ran significantly behind schedule).

However, since the western end of the route was electrified in 1978, Kirkby trains have either terminated at Wigan or been re-routed via Atherton.

Trains continuing to Bolton pass by, but cannot stop at, Lostock (Junction) station, as there are no platforms for the Wigan line.

Between May and December 2015, the service pattern was altered temporarily due to the work being carried out to widen Farnworth Tunnel as part of the plans to electrify the Manchester to Preston Line.

[12][13] The Bolton to Wigan electrification including Westhoughton station upgrade is scheduled for completion in 2024.