Construction of the line to Hunstanton coincided with the rising popularity of north-west Norfolk as a destination for holidaymakers who were arriving in large numbers.

Hunstanton was promoted as a seaside resort by Henry Styleman Le Strange (1815–1862), lord of the manor and principal landowner, who gifted land and money towards the line's construction.

[4] The station had two long island platforms which could take excursion trains with up to a thousand people aboard, and its seafront location meant that passengers were discharged directly on to the promenade and pier.

Nearer the seafront the line crossed South Beach Road on the level, before entering the station whose twin island platforms, covered by Great Eastern flat-topped canopies, diverged in a roughly triangular arrangement.

The last train ran at 9.05pm on Saturday 3 May from King's Lynn packed with around 250 passengers and a similar number waiting at Hunstanton to mark the occasion.