The Prussian Royal residence was located at Potsdam approximately 25 km west of Berlin, which at the beginning of the 19th century already had more than 200,000 inhabitants.

In 1837, the Berlin–Potsdam Railway Company acquired land for the station from the Unity of the Brethren in Berlin and Rixdorf for 12,400 thalers.

Its Potsdam station was southeast of the city on the other bank of the Havel river, where it also established a rail workshop.

Directly west of the Potsdam station the line had to cross the Havel and Neustädter Bay, requiring several bridges.

It served suburban traffic while long-distance trains ran on the trunk line to Magdeburg.

In addition electric railcars operating on the long-distance lines continued as steam hauled suburban trains along the direct route to Potsdam without going through Wannsee.

The contemporary news media understated the death toll and gave only limited coverage of the accident.

The badly damaged Herrenkrug bridge in Magdeburg was temporarily repaired and put back into operation on 12 March 1946.

In order to supply reparations to the Soviet Union the second track was removed from sections of the line until 1948.

In April 1945, the railway bridge over the Teltow Canal was blown up and later the track between Griebnitzsee and Düppel was singled to provide reparations.

After the West Berlin railway employees strike in late summer 1980, S-Bahn operations were closed on18 September 1980 on the Zehlendorf–Düppel section.

With the completion of the electrification of the Griebnitzsee–Brandenburg an der Havel–Biederitz section in December 1995, Intercity-Express trains could now take the direct route via Brandenburg instead of the now partially closed route through Bad Belzig and Güterglück (the strategic railway known as the Kanonenbahn, the "Cannons Railway").

During World War I it used its first steam locomotive to serve the Goerz film supply factory.

On the Goerz Railway passenger were also carried until this service was closed during World War II.

The route currently serves as a branch line for freight, including automotive parts bound for the Ford factory in Cologne.

A few kilometres further west, the route branches off in a northerly direction through Golm to Wustermark and Kremmen.

This extended the existing outer freight ring (Güteraußenring, GAR) by adding a new section between Werder and Saarmund crossing the Templiner See.

During the Communist period, the Berlin outer ring was of considerable importance for the long-distance and freight traffic.

With the opening of the border in 1989 and the renovation of the Berlin Stadtbahn in 1997 traffic flows changed substantially and by the BAR platforms on the upper part of Pirschheide station are now no longer served by passenger trains.

Several branch lines were built from the railway stations of Genthin and Güsen there were that the Jerichower Land.

After reunification there were initially plans to reopen the disused section of the trunk line (German: Stammbahn) between Berlin and Potsdam.

Furthermore, many of the road bridges would have to be rebuilt to allow sufficient vertical clearances for electric operation.