It is 16 miles (26 km) down the line from Norwich, between Worstead to the south and Gunton to the north.

Historically, the town was served by two adjacent railway stations; this existing station dating from 1874 served the Great Eastern Railway from Norwich to Cromer High, while a nearby station named North Walsham Town served the former lines to Melton Constable (either via Aylsham or via Mundesley-on-Sea and Sheringham) and Great Yarmouth (via Potter Heigham).

In 2010 the station signs were changed to read "North Walsham, home of Paston College".

The station goods yard, meanwhile, is the last operational freight location on the line; GB Railfreight dispatches regular bulk trainloads of petrochemicals (gas condensate piped in from various offshore North Sea gas fields) from here to Harwich International.

The typical service on all days of the week is one train per hour in each direction between Norwich and Sheringham via Cromer.