Hornsea Town was the terminus of the Hull and Hornsea Railway, located around 100 yards from the sea. The fine station buildings were designed by Rawlins Gould, originally a canopy covered the main platform and track , being attached to the station buildings and supported on cast iron columns on the outer side.

The building is similar in appearance to York & North Midland Railway structures, no doubt due to the fact that Gould had previously been employed by George Townsend Andrews, the YNMR architect. There was one long main platform adjacent to the buildings, with an equally long island platform for excursions. The station was opened as Hornsea with Town added from 25.9.1950.

The station stood derelict but intact until 1987 when work began to convert the station buildings into housing; the excursion platforms were removed and new houses built on the site. A new access road was built on the trackbed.

A line connecting the Hull-Scarborough branch at Arram to a site near Hornsea Mere had been proposed in 1846/7 by the York & North Midland Railway but never built due to the downfall of Chairman George Hudson amidst a financial scandal. A new line connecting Hull and Hornsea was promoted by Hornsea resident and Hull timber merchant Joseph Armytage Wade, the aim of such a line being to develop Hornsea as a fashionable Victorian seaside resort.

The first sod was turned by Wade in October 1862. Problems were encountered during construction due to the nature of the local soil; there were further issues with poor workmanship and materials used by the contractors. A late change of plan saw the line extended from the proposed terminus at Hornsea Bridge to the seafront; this meant construction of an embankment which required the ground to be piled adding substantially to the already escalating construction costs.

Opened in March 1864, the line ran in a fairly direct North Easterly direction from Hull. The original Hull terminus was Wilmington station, although from June 1864 trains ran via the Victoria Dock branch into Hull's Paragon station. Due to lower than expected receipts and consequent financial difficulties, the Hull and Hornsea Railway merged with the North Eastern Railway in July 1866.

The line was constructed as a single track but was doubled throughout in the early 1900's. Diesel railcars were introduced in 1957 and operated local services from that date. Centralised Traffic Control (automated signaling and level crossings) was proposed in the early 1960's, but this was overtaken by the 'Beeching Report'. Closure to passengers came in October 1964, with goods services to Hornsea Bridge continuing until May 1965.

Hornsea Town railway station is now a Grade II Listed Building.