The station was first opened on 7 November 1855 by the Inverness and Nairn Railway.^[6][7] In 1857, the line was extended eastwards to Dalvey. The route from Aberdeen to Inverness was merged into one company, the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway, in 1861.^[8]

In 1885 the Highland Railway Company agreed to improve the facilities at Nairn. The station buildings were replaced with improved accommodation for passenger and staff.^[9] The gables of the cross wings were surmounted with the Scotch thistle, the Prince of Wales feather, and other designs sculpted in stone. The masonry work was completed by Mr. Squair of Nairn. At the same time a new station master’s house was erected. The platforms were extended to around 440 yards (400 m) and raised in height to the level of the carriages. A new iron foot bridge over the line connected the platforms, avoiding passengers using a foot crossing over the running lines. The bridge over Cawdor Road was also widened at the same time.^[10] The work was completed in 1886.^[11]

The station was notable for being the last working example of Highland Railway signalling principles, where a signal box was provided at each end to work the signals & points whilst the key token instruments for working the single line were located in the main building. The distance between the boxes was such that a bicycle was officially provided by BR (and later Railtrack) for the signaller to use.^[12]

Control of the signalling at the station has since transferred to a new workstation in the Inverness signalling centre, following a 10-day line closure that also saw the loop at Elgin lengthened and a new station and loop commissioned at Forres.^[13] A replacement bus service ran whilst the work was in progress, with the line reopening on schedule on 17 October 2017.

The station has a ticket office, ticket machine and accessible toilet on platform 1, adjacent to some bike racks and one of the car parks. The other is adjacent to platform 2, which is equipped with a flower shop and a help point. There is step-free access to both platforms, but not between them, as the bridge linking them does not have lifts.^[14]

The station is 128 miles 72 chains (207.4 km) from Perth (measured via Dava), and has a passing loop 29 chains (580 m) long, flanked by two platforms which can each accommodate an eight-coach train.^[15]

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

As of May 2022, there are seventeen daily departures from the station each way on weekdays and Saturdays. Most are through trains between Aberdeen and Inverness, but some trains start from or terminate at Elgin. One departure runs through to Edinburgh in the morning, and one in the evening runs to Stonehaven. On Sundays there are five through trains each way to Inverness and Aberdeen, with two more from Glasgow to Elgin via Inverness that call eastbound.^[17]

• Quick, Michael (2023). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). London: Railway and Canal Historical Society.
• Thomas, John and Turnock, David (1989) A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 15: North of Scotland, David St John Thomas (publisher), Newton Abbot, ISBN 0946537 03 8, page 154

• Allen, David (26 August – 8 September 1998). "The last of its kind...". RAIL. No. 338. EMAP Apex Publications. pp. 32–34. ISSN 0953-4563. OCLC 49953699.

• Train times and station information for Nairn railway station from National Rail
• Railscot - Nairn