The station was built by the expanding Metropolitan Railway and opened as "Chorley Wood" in July 1889. The name was changed to "Chorley Wood & Chenies" in November 1915 until 1934 when it reverted to the original name until 1965. The present name has existed since then. Chorleywood station was formerly served by steam-hauled Metropolitan line trains from Aylesbury to London, with a changeover to an electric locomotive at Rickmansworth. Steam trains were withdrawn in 1961 when electrification north of Rickmansworth to Amersham and Chesham was completed. From the early 1960s to 2012, Metropolitan line trains at Chorleywood were formed of London Underground A60 Stock, but were replaced by London Underground S8 stock. Chiltern Railways trains are formed by Class 165diesel multiple units. Between October 2004 and December 2011 almost all southbound Metropolitan line trains from Chorleywood into London were fast trains to Baker Street, calling at,,,, and. Since December 2011 only a few morning peak hour Metropolitan line trains have been operated as fast trains, at other times the trains mostly call at all stations, adding over 10 minutes to journey times. The journey to central London takes around 35–50 minutes depending on the line and time of day. Northbound Metropolitan line trains call at all stations to or.
The Metropolitan line is the only line on the London Underground to operate an express service. This is southbound in the morning peaks and northbound in the evening peaks. Southbound fast trains run non-stop between Moor Park, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Finchley Road. Southbound semi-fast trains only run non-stop between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Finchley Road. Northbound fast and semi-fast trains call additionally at Wembley Park before running non-stop between the aforementioned stations. The off-peak service in trains per hour presently consists of:
4tph to Aldgate
2tph to Amersham
2tph to Chesham
The morning peak service in trains per hour presently consists of:
4tph to Aldgate
2tph to Aldgate
4tph to Amersham
2tph to Chesham
The evening peak service in trains per hour presently consists of:
2tph to Baker Street
4tph to Aldgate via Baker Street
4tph to Amersham
2tph to Chesham
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways operate services between Aylesbury Vale Parkway via Amersham and Aylesbury and London Marylebone via Harrow on the Hill. All Chiltern Railway services run non stop between Rickmansworth and Harrow on the Hill and Harrow on the Hill and London Marylebone. The off-peak service in trains per hour presently consists of:
