[7] The line was opened by the Brighton and Dyke Railway Company to serve what was at the time a very popular tourist destination, boasting two bandstands, an observatory, a camera obscura and fairground rides.

The 1893 August Bank Holiday saw around 30,000 people flock to the Dyke, many of them brought by the railway.

[8] Operations continued until 1917 when, in the midst of the First World War, the line was closed as a wartime economy measure.

Services recommenced in 1920 but lasted only a further eighteen years; the line closing in the face of increased competition from motor buses.

Part of the trackbed of the line remained unused until 1988 when the "Dyke Railway Trail" was created.