The station was opened by the York and North Midland Railway on 6 October 1846, at the same time as the line from Hull to Bridlington.
This was never more than a rural branch line, but the final route into the town, from Selby via Market Weighton (opened on 1 May 1890), proved rather more important as it soon became busy with holiday traffic from the West Riding heading for the resorts further up the coast.
The station is staffed part-time, with the ticket office open from 07:15 to 13:30 six days per week (closed on Sundays).
[2] The station has a twice hourly service in each direction to Hull and Bridlington on weekdays, with alternate northbound trains continuing on to Scarborough.
There is an hourly service each way on Sundays to Scarborough and Sheffield throughout the year (rather than in summer only) since the timetable change in December 2009.