The main purpose of this line was to break the stranglehold on traffic between Leeds and the North East, which was controlled by George Hudson. Originally, the route terminated at a station near the centre of Thirsk after crossing over the main Great North of England Main Line on an over bridge. It was not until June 1852 that a direct route to Northallerton and Stockton, under which it passed without any connecting lines, was opened to fulfil the original purpose of the line. Connections were made later with the main line at Northallerton and Thirsk. Both these connections enabled trains to travel Northwards.

Due to the terrain in the Harrogate area, the line avoided the town. Those wishing to reach Harrogate, and its freight traffic, were served by a station and goods yard at Starbeck, over a mile to the North East of the town.

The first trains to enter Harrogate on 20th July 1848 came along a branch line of the York and North Midland Railway from Church Fenton, (which was on the main lines between York and Leeds, and York and Sheffield). This branch terminated at Brunswick Station near what is today Trinity Road.

The lack of a central station at Harrogate serving the through route and a line being constructed for York towards Starbeck was unacceptable. The York line opened on 1st October 1851. Powers were eventually obtained by Act of Parliament on 8th August 1858 to provide connecting lines for all routes in the area to the central station in Harrogate.

As far as Bilton was concerned, new track was built northwards from the new station to Dragon Junction, (between what is now Woodfield Road and the Claro Industrial Estate), where the track split into two - one curve connecting with the Leeds Thirsk Line south of Starbeck, and the other with the Leeds Thirsk Line immediately south of Bilton Lane at what was known as Bilton Junction. The railway network in the area reached its completion with the opening of these new sections on 1st August 1862. Sidings were added at Bilton Junction in 1880 to handle coal bound by road to Harrogate Gas Works.

From the completion of the new station the section of the original route from Pannal to Starbeck lost its importance, though it did serve as an avoiding line by a limited amount of traffic. It closed on 26th June 1951.

The main route through Bilton remained a busy main line. As well as local traffic there was a vast amount of freight traffic which stopped at Bilton for the addition of an extra locomotive to assist these heavy trains up the steep climb (maximum 1 in 66) to Harrogate station. There were through Leeds-Liverpool expresses and also the Queen of Scots Pullman between Glasgow and Kings Cross, London, would pass through in each direction ay 1600 hours.

Much of the through freight travelled between Teesside and the Midlands through Bilton to avoid the congested East Coast Main Line. This traffic became so heavy during the Second World War that loop lines and extra signalling were installed to the north of Bilton Junction. This through freight traffic continued twenty four hours each weekday.

However, it was when the track capacity was increased on the East Coast Main Line that the through freight traffic ceased. At the same time the Beeching era arrived. It was decided that the line was not profitable and that Harrogate’s passenger and freight traffic could make the journey north via York. The line was closed officially on 5th March 1967, except for local freight between Starbeck and Ripon which lasted until 6th September 1969.