It was opened by the East Lancashire Railway in 1848 as part of its route from Bury and Blackburn to Colne, where an end-on junction was made with the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway line from Skipton that had been completed several months earlier.
Despite the cutbacks, the station was rebuilt in 1965, with the ground floor at street level and the first floor at platform level, providing a booking hall, toilets, waiting rooms, stationmaster's office, parcels office and left luggage office [REF].