[2][note 1] A second attempt at a line was promoted by Hull businessman Anthony Bannister, with the intention of linking Hull with the rich agricultural area of South Holderness, and the development of a coastal village (Withernsea) into a new seaside resort.
The silting up of Patrington and Hedon Havens was another incentive for the construction of a line, since it could no longer be used for transportation by water.
[6] The line began at the York and North Midland Railway's Victoria Dock station and ran east, passing Hedon to the north; it then turned south-east, passing Burstwick to the south, halfway between Ottringham and Ryehill, then the line passed Keyingham to the north and then east and south to Patrington, before entering Withernsea, which was to the north-east, and in which the line terminated.
Up till 1859 the Hull and Holderness Railway operated its own trains,[2] but from 1860 the line was operated by the North Eastern Railway on lease rental, and in 1862 the same company acquired the line; a short connecting chord was built that allowed trains to run through onto the dock branch,[5] and, from 1864, services ran to Paragon station in the city centre via the Victoria Dock Branch Line.
Goods traffic continued to use the whole line until 3 May 1965, after which it only operated between Hull and Hedon railway station.