The existing mainline station dates from 1863 with the opening of the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway. The following year the Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway opened the line as far as via , and in 1867 the line was extended from Barmouth to via (then Portmadoc). In 1868 the station and lines were absorbed into the Cambrian Railways. The Cambrian Railways were absorbed by the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1922 as a result of the Railways Act 1921, and became part of British Railways in 1948.