The line was inspected by Sir Francis Marindin of the Board of Trade on 29 October 1897, and opened for traffic on 2 November.

[3] The construction of the 10+1⁄2-mile (16.9 km) line cost £200,000 (equivalent to £28,660,000 in 2023)[2] and was built under the supervision of the engineer Murdoch Paterson.

The line avoided the Beeching Axe due to social necessity, but throughout the 1970s it was variously threatened with closure, but won a reprieve until the Caledonian MacBrayne service to Lewis was moved from Kyle to Ullapool.

It was eventually saved in connection with supplying goods for oil platform fabrication at the nearby Kishorn Yard.

The original Act had allowed the company to build the railway through to Kyle, but the severe costs of the Strathpeffer diversion in addition to loss of revenue from relevant shareholders[vague] meant that the money ran out, leading to the line being cut back to Stromeferry, 10 miles (16 km) short of Kyle.

A station was opened at Achterneed on the original line, being called Strathpeffer, but proved too far from the town to viably harness that revenue, and closed in 1965.