From the left, a link line from the Würzburg railway joins the route; which now passes under the A 70 motorway and runs past the western edge of Hallstadt and then parallel to the B 4 before reaching Breitengüßbach.

Passing Münchberg and Schwarzenbach an der Saale the line reaches Oberkotzau, is united there with the lines from Regensburg and Selb, runs past Moschendorf over the river Saale and finally arrives at the terminus of Hof Hauptbahnhof.

The line from Würzburg to Hof/Bayreuth is worked by diesel-powered Class 612 tilting trains due to the tight curves on the Schiefe Ebene and the unelectrified stretch from Hochstadt-Marktzeuln to Hof.

RegionalBahn services on the Lichtenfels–Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg section are provided by Desiro multiples of the Regentalbahn working under contract to DB Regio.

The line between Bamberg and Ebensfeld (main article) is to be upgraded to 230 km/h in order to reduce journey times between Munich and Berlin still further.

In addition, direct hourly trains are planned from Weiden via Bayreuth and Lichtenfels to Bad Rodach.