The station opened on 17 May 1860. It was originally part of the Hereford and Worcester Railway which was incorporated into the West Midland Railway, before being absorbed by the Great Western Railway. On 1 January 1948 the company became Government owned under British Railways. The Butts Spur line was also constructed in 1860 with the unfulfilled aim of connecting the station to Diglis for the conveyance of freight.

Since 1973 the station has had an unusual layout, being essentially two single-track lines side by side rather than the ordinary double-track layout which it appears to be. The two single lines run from Henwick, on the other side of the River Severn, through Foregate Street, to the site of the former Rainbow Hill Junction to the east of the station, which used to provide a crossover between the two tracks. At this point the lines diverge with that on the north side heading towards Tunnel Junction and Droitwich Spa, while the southern track leads to Worcester Shrub Hill. Rainbow Hill Junction was removed when the signalling in the area was remodelled in 1973. Since then, platform 1 (on the south side) has only been usable by trains running via Shrub Hill, and platform 2 only by trains running directly to or from Droitwich without calling at Shrub Hill. Signs at the station (see right) warn of "Two-way working on both lines".^[2][3]

The station celebrated its 150th birthday on 23 May 2010 with the unveiling of a plaque and a special train^[4] that ran to Great Malvern railway station (which celebrated its 150th anniversary on the same date).^[5]

The art gallery Movement opened on platform 2 on 2 October 2010.^[6]

The station was upgraded in 2014, which included a refurbished subway, two new entrances with automatic doors, relocation of the lift at the second entrance to be enclosed in the station building and conversion of one of the railway arches into a bike shelter. The bridge was also strengthened and repainted.

Until May 2022, Great Western Railway ran limited services to Southampton Central and Brighton.^[7][8][9]

The station is served by two train operating companies: West Midlands Trains (who manage the station) and Great Western Railway. West Midlands Trains operate services to Birmingham via two different routes, either to Birmingham New Street via Bromsgrove or to Birmingham Snow Hill via Kidderminster.^[10][11][12] There is an hourly service between Hereford and New Street and two trains per hour (three at peak times) to Snow Hill, with many of the latter running beyond to either Stratford-upon-Avon or Dorridge; some also originate/terminate at Great Malvern or Whitlocks End on this route.

Great Western Railway operate a regular service to London Paddington via the Cotswold Line and Oxford^[13] and a service to Bristol Temple Meads via Gloucester with extensions through to Salisbury and Weymouth.^[14] The latter mainly terminate/start here here, with only a limited service beyond to or from Great Malvern.

• Worcester Shrub Hill railway station
• Worcester (Norton) Parkway railway station

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2004). Worcester to Hereford. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 1-8. ISBN 9781904474388. OCLC 862604858.

• Train times and station information for Worcester Foregate Street railway station from National Rail

52°11′42″N 2°13′19″W / 52.195°N 2.222°W / 52.195; -2.222