The Great Western Railway built the Oxford — Banbury section of the Oxford and Rugby Railway between 1845 and 1850. However, the GWR did not open a station at King's Sutton until 1872.[2] By 1881 the arrival of the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct RailwayviaChipping Norton had made King's Sutton a junction. British Railways withdrew passenger services between King's Sutton and Chipping Norton in 1951 and closed the B&CDR line to freight traffic in 1964. The station was reduced to an unstaffed halt from 2 November 1964.[3]
BR demolished the station building and removed King's Sutton station footbridge in the 1960s and replaced it with a signal-controlled barrow crossing at the North end of the platform.[4] An incident in early 2005 where a passenger was nearly hit by an express train saw the Northbound platform closed for a short period whilst security guards were brought in to man the crossing. This led to work starting on a new bridge in late 2005 and completion in May 2006.[5] The old passenger shelter on the up platform was replaced by a new plastic and metal 'bus-shelter' style one.
A late night robbery in 2001 led Chiltern Railways to raise security concerns. As a result, CCTV cameras were installed in 2002.[citation needed]
Kings Sutton is the least used station in the county of Northamptonshire.[6]
Chiltern Railways operate services approximately every two hours off peak between London Marylebone and Banbury with the majority of these extended to Stratford-upon-Avon. On Sundays, these services are extended beyond Banbury to Birmingham Moor Street. Chiltern Railways also operate a single late evening service between Oxford and Banbury via the Cherwell Valley Line.
Great Western Railway operate services approximately every two hours Monday-Saturday between Banbury and Oxford with some of these services extended to Didcot Parkway and Reading. A limited Sunday service (3 trains per day) operates on this route during the summer months only.