The station's northern platform was abandoned in 1970 and is overgrown. Facilities at the station are minimal – there are a few chairs and timetable information is provided. There are help points on the platform, giving next train information and allowing passengers to contact staff. There is no ticket office, nor any self-service ticket machines. The station building is used as a workshop and showroom for a company selling fireplaces, and is bricked up on the platform side. It is, however, colourfully decorated with a mural, painted as a collaborative effort between the Severnside Community Rail Partnership and local schools. The Severnside CRP also tend the station's garden in conjunction with the nearby Colston's Girls' School. There is no car park or taxi rank, but there are bus stops on Cromwell Road, and more on the busy A38 Cheltenham Road roughly away. Cycle storage is available on the platform. The line through Montpelier has a speed limit for diesel multiple units, and for other trains. The line, which is not electrified, has loading gauge W6A, and carries less than 5 million train tonnes per year. , approximately 120,000 passengers used Montpelier station, making it the 1592nd busiest station in the country and the fifth busiest within the Bristol unitary authority area. This was an increase of almost 100% from the 2002–03 financial year, and reflected a general rise in usage of the Severn Beach Line. Services at Montpelier are all operated by Great Western Railway, mainly using diesel "Turbo" units. Monday to Friday there are 25 trains per day in each direction: three trains every two hours run from Bristol Temple Meads to , with one extended to and Severn Beach, giving a service at Montpelier of one train in each direction every 40 minutes. Most services start at Bristol, but one evening service to Avonmouth begins at . On Saturdays there is a similar level of service, at 24 trains per day, but more trains continue to Severn Beach. Sunday sees a roughly hourly service to and from Bristol, ten trains per day, with only two services extending to Severn Beach, except during the May–September timetable period when all services are extended. The first and last Sunday trains towards Bristol are extended to via Weston-super-Mare, and there are similar workings in the other direction. There an interval of about ten minutes between services to Avonmouth and those to Bristol, due to the line's main passing point, , being the next but one station.