The station was designed by the Midland Railway company architect John Holloway Sanders. The station was opened with the line on 1 May 1876 and was originally named Settle New to distinguish it from the nearby station on a different route, which was renamed at the same time. Settle New was renamed Settle on 1 July 1879, by which time Settle Old had become Giggleswick. Goods facilities were withdrawn from the station in 1970. The railway station is located very close to the town centre and is staffed on a part-time basis. There is a range of facilities available in the main buildings on the southbound platform. There is a period stone-built waiting room located on the northbound platform and a new stone and glass shelter on the southbound side. The platforms are linked by an ex-North British Railway footbridge that was formerly located at station in East Lothian until electrification of the ECML made it redundant. It was then dismantled and re-erected here in 1993 to allow the old barrow crossing at the north end of the station to be taken out of regular use. A ticket machine is available for use when the booking office is closed. Train running information is provided by timetable posters, a P.A system and telephone. Digital information screens were also installed here in the summer of 2019. The old station signal box, which closed in 1984 has been restored as a visitor attraction by the Friends of the Settle - Carlisle Line and is located behind the southbound platform and is open to the public at certain times. The water tower situated near the station in the former goods yard was converted into residential accommodation in 2011.
Accidents and incidents
On 21 January 1960, an express passenger train derailed just to the north of the station and then collided with a northbound freight due to a defect on the BR Standard Class 7 locomotive hauling it. Five people were killed and nine were injured.
Services
Monday to Saturdays there is generally a two-hourly service southbound to Leeds and northbound to . The last train of the day from Leeds runs only as far as and the corresponding return to Leeds starts back from there. Trains terminated or started from either Appleby or from the spring of 2016 whilst Network Rail repaired a major landslip at Eden Brows. A replacement bus service was in operation over the affected section until the project to repair the line was completed in March 2017. The project was completed on schedule and the line reopened to traffic on 31 March 2017. On Sundays there are now six trains in each direction throughout the year, plus an additional summer service between and Carlisle via and operated by Northern Rail under the Dalesrail brand. The new Northern franchise awarded to Arriva Rail North in December 2015 and which started in April 2016, has seen modest service improvements from the station implemented from the May 2018 timetable change, with one extra weekday service each way and two extra trains each way on Sundays.
