The line is operated by the Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG (BZB), whose majority owner is the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Municipal Works.

On 19 December 1929 it was followed by the 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) long section between Garmisch and Grainau, including the important tourist connexion to the main railway network of the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

Moreover, it is still just called Garmisch, whereas the DB station bears the double-barrelled name of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, reflecting the contentious merger, formally in 1935, of the two municipalities.

The mountain section begins in Grainau station, is equipped with a Riggenbach rack system, and is 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi) long.

The railway climbs steeply uphill from Grainau, passes Eibsee station and finally arrives at the halt of Riffelriss.

About a kilometre before it reaches the terminus, the underground section of the line passes almost exactly below the summit of the Zugspitze, and a few metres away from the border with the Austrian state of Tyrol.