Whilst this simplified its accessibility from Halberstadt to the north, it made a railway route into the Harz Mountains very costly.

The main purpose of the line was to provide a connexion for the Blankenburg smelting works to the railway network.

On 3 July 1875 a 3.5 kilometre long line from Blankenburg station to the smelting works in the west of the town was completed.

For topographical reasons the line had to leave Blankenburg station in a northwesterly direction, thus resulting in a railway terminus.

After the sections of the Rübeland Railway to Tanne and Königshütte were closed, in 2005 passenger services on the rest of the line to Elbingerode were ceased.