The station was originally opened by the Leeds and Selby Railway in 1834, but was closed in 1840 when the L&SR was leased by George Hudson's York and North Midland Railway. It reopened in 1850, but patronage was initially modest due to Cross Gates being a small village some distance from Leeds. The subsequent extension of the L&SR into the centre of Leeds in 1869 and the opening of the line to Wetherbyseven years later saw usage increase significantly, with the community becoming a busy commuter suburb. A rebuild of the station was authorised in 1870 by the North Eastern Railway, but this was not carried out until 1902; the line from Leeds was quadrupled at this time and the station re-sited slightly east of its original position. In its rebuilt form, platforms were only provided on the outside lines, along with a ticket office at street level, substantial canopies and waiting rooms on each side. A new goods yard was also built alongside the eastbound platform. Goods traffic ceased here in June 1964 and the fast lines were removed by the end of the decade. The platform canopies and buildings were demolished in stages in the 1970s, leaving only basic shelters in place. The old lattice footbridge linking the platforms was also demolished in 2007 after being disused and blocked off for several years.
Facilities
The station still has an active ticket office, which is manned part-time. Ticket machines are also available for use outside these times and for the collection of advance purchase tickets. Step-free access is possible to both platforms, by means of ramps from the street above. Digital information screens and a long-line P.A system provide train running information. A café named "The Waiting Room" opened in April 2017 behind the ticket office.
Services
Monday to Saturday daytime there is a half-hourly service to, with alternate trains extending through to Bradford Interchange and . Two weekday a.m peak services to also call. Eastbound, there is an hourly service to York and via respectively Monday to Saturday all day On Sundays, there are two trains per hour to Leeds and one each to Selby and York. In addition to these, TransPennine Express also call here during the morning and evening peaks with 2 trains to Liverpool Lime Street via Manchester, 1 train to Manchester Airport and 2 trains to. CrossCountry services between Scotland and Devon/Cornwall and the daily London North Eastern Railway service from Leeds to Aberdeen rush through the station, but do not stop.
