It would benefit Pirmasens with its industry, the transport of timber in the areas of Johanniskreuz, Leimen, Lemberg, Merzalben, Ruppertsweiler, Trippstadt and Waldfischbach, the gravel pits in Heltersberg, Rodalben, Schmalenberg and Waldfischbach and the agriculture of the neighbouring Sickingen Heights and services for visitors to the waterfalls of the region.

The proposed connection between Kaiserslautern and Pirmasens was not considered by the Ministry of Trade to be useful because of the difficult topography and the thin settlement.

[6] The council therefore continued to favour a direct link via the planned South Palatine Railway (Südpfalzstrecke) between Landau and Zweibrücken.

Due to its very late rise out of the Steinbach Valley, the crest of the line would only be reached at the beginning of the tunnel at the entrance to Pirmasens.

Therefore, Deutsche Reichsbahn later decided to build a second track, which began the climb much earlier—directly at the exit from Biebermühle station—to reach the new tunnel over a gentler and more even gradient.

[10] In 1872, the Palatine Railway received a request from the city of Kaiserslautern, which related to the planned connection to Pirmasens.

In 1909, the operation of the two lines became part of the Royal Bavarian State Railways (Königlich Bayerischen Staats-Eisenbahnen).

In addition, it was decided to build a second track a separate route to improve operations between Pirmasens North and the Hauptbahnhof.

The third option, which was finally implemented by the Reichsbahn, ran almost parallel to the old line, but started climbing earlier towards Pirmasens and thus obtained a more even and gentler slope.

In addition, a connecting curve was established north of Pirmasens Nord station, which was subsequently used by direct services running between Zweibrücken and Kaiserslautern over the Biebermühl Railway.

[17] At the end of the Second World War, the original valley track (Talgleis) of the southern Pirmasens Nord-Pirmasens Hauptbahnhof section was broken in four places as a result of the fighting.

In 1955, the newer mountain track (Berggleis) was re-activated on the southern section of the line, the reconstruction of which had been long delayed.

[23] After many lines had been closed throughout the Western Palatinate, DB concluded an agreement with the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which ensured the continuance of the Biebermühl Railway.

[24] At the end of the Cold War, from 1990 onwards, the line lost its importance as a strategic railway, which ultimately mainly depended on the American forces resident in the Pirmasens region.

As part of the railway reform, the Zweckverband Schienenpersonennahverkehr Rheinland-Pfalz Süd (municipal association for rail transport of the southern Palatinate) has been responsible for the route since 1 January 1997.

[28] The Biebermühl Railway runs along the western edge of the Palatinate Forest (Pfälzerwald), through the Sickingen Heights (Sickinger Höhe).

Shortly before Schopp it crosses federal highway 270 and runs along the Moosalb via Steinalben to Waldfischbach, where they meet the Schwarzbach valley (Schwarzbachtal).

Just before the terminal station of Pirmasens Hauptbahnhof, the line passes through the 887 metre-long Neue Fehrbacher Tunnel.

[16] Improved performance in the 1930s led to two express train pairs on the Pirmasens–Kaiserslautern–Mainz route, one of them continuing to Frankfurt am Main.

The Palatine Railway operated tender locomotives with five coupled axles of the T 5 class, built by Fa.

Krauss & Co., especially for use with the heavy freight trains on the steep climb to Pirmasens; these were designated by Deutsche Reichsbahn as class 940.

[38] Subsequently, Prussian class T 14.1 tender locomotives were mainly used as substitutes on traffic between Biebermühle and Pirmasens.

They were temporarily sent back to Geislingen after the invasion of France, but returned a year later until the end of the Second World War.

[40] Occasionally, battery electric multiple units of class 515 based in the Worms locomotive depot were also found on the Biebermühl Railway.

Kaiserslauten Hauptbahnhof was opened on 1 July 1848, with the Homburg–Kaiserslautern section of the Palatine Ludwig Railway (Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn).

[43] The Haltepunkt (halt) of Kaiserslautern-Galgenschanze follows almost immediately after the branch from the Mannheim–Saarbrücken railway and serves the suburb of Galgenschanze on the eastern edge of Kaiserslautern.

Like the halt in Gelterswoog, it was primarily used for recreational traffic, in this case to the nature reserve in the nearby Karlstal, which is immediately adjacent to the east.

Its entrance building, which was built in a traditional style with a hip roof and an open waiting area, dates back to around 1910 and is heritage listed.

[51] This was mainly a result of the fact that a direct east–west link to the city of Pirmasens failed because of the difficult topographical conditions.

In August 1980, due to the erosion of an embankment, diesel locomotive 218 384 derailed and crashed into the Moosalb near Schopp.