The station opened on 1 March 1886, on the Cathcart District Railway route from Glasgow to Cathcart. The station initially served as a temporary terminal for the route, as the section through to the terminus at Cathcart wasn't completed for a further two months. The western side of the Cathcart Circle Line was completed in April 1894, whilst the link to the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway's extension from to was added in 1904. This allowed through running from the eastern side of the Circle towards and thus to the Caledonian Railway main line to at Newton. Another spur at Cathcart laid concurrently also permitted through trains from here towards Neilston and the L&AR terminus at Ardrossan (though only local trains using this route actually stopped here). Regular through trains beyond on this line ended in July 1932.