The first section between Komuro and Chiba New Town Chūō was opened in 1984, and the operations were commissioned to the present Hokusō Railway.

For a utilization of partially completed tracks of the Shinkansen, JR East and Keisei lines to Narita Airport were realized.

The express trains are operated by Keisei as a Cat-2 operator with maximum speed at 160 km/h (99 mph), the fastest among Japanese private railways (which was formerly shared with Hokuetsu Express until the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen in 2015) which enables a 34-minute journey from Nippori to Narita Airport.

The fare reduction was implemented in July 2010 at the time of the opening of the Narita Sky Access Line.

In 2011 and 2012, the cities of Shiroi and Inzai elected new mayors on platforms of negotiating for further fare reductions and stopping public subsidies respectively; a third-party study commissioned by the two city governments concluded in August 2013 that the Hokusō Line would break even at more discounted fare levels without local subsidies.

Hokuso, on the other hand, has argued that increased consumption tax rates and capital expenditures related to upgrading the Pasmo system will force them to raise fares in 2015.