The line from Beverley to York was built by the York and North Midland Railway. The first passenger train ran from York to Market Weighton on 3rd October 1847. But the railway stopped there.

It was 17 years before the rest of the line, from Market Weighton to Beverley, was completed. This was due to Lord Hotham, who owned much of the farmland between Market Weighton and Beverley, and was reluctant to have a railway built across his estate on the Yorkshire Wolds. He finally agreed to let the railway through, on condition that he was provided with his personal station, at Kiplingcotes, and that no trains ran on Sundays. The first through train from Hull to York ran on 1st May 1865.

The line crossed mainly flat farmland, permitting trains to reach 70 mph or more between Market Weighton and York.

Pocklington Station opened in 1847 and has a fine single storey station building, graced by an arcade of five arches across the front. There is also a surviving goods shed and station house. Behind the main building, the trainshed has been converted into a gymnasium for Pocklington School. It is all listed Grade II.