It is an important component of the "mushroom concept" (Pilzkonzept), which was adopted for long-distance and regional rail services through the city.

It passes under the Landwehr Canal and rises to the surface again near of Gleisdreieck U-Bahn station on a ramp with a gradient of 3.0 per cent.

The former mainline of the Anhalter railway ran to the west next to the S-Bahn tracks in today's Südgelände Nature Park.

Plans since the beginning of the 20th century for a similar line from north to south for a long time came to nothing.

The use of the Stadtbahn for mainline trains meant that many connections required a devious route and in addition the limit of its capacity was expected to be reached soon.

Among the various options discussed and then adopted was the so-called mushroom concept (German: Pilzkonzept), which provided for a partially underground north-south route, which crossed the Stadtbahn at the Hauptbahnhof.

[citation needed] In April 1992, the mushroom concept was added to the Federal Transport Infrastructure Plan.

In 2002, construction began on the southern section of the above ground line, originally planned to be opened in 2002.

[5] After a series of delays, including flooding in 1997, the track, tunnels and Hauptbahnhof was finally inaugurated on 27 May 2006 and put into scheduled operation a day later.

The terms of access require the use of a retention toilet system and the use of eddy current brakes is not permitted on the line.

A number of additional Intercity (IC) trains run at the weekend towards Hanover and Cologne as well as to Frankfurt am Main use the route.

However, it has now been agreed to build a new S-Bahn line from the northern Ring Bahn to Hauptbahnhof, extending it eventually to Potsdamer Platz.