The line was fully opened on 23 January 1862 jointly by the Royal Hanoverian State Railways and Bremen.

An Intercity-Express running between Bremerhaven and Munich and InterRegio trains between Cuxhaven and Luxembourg and Saarbrücken are recent examples.

In addition the line is used by a large amount of freight traffic, particularly for the transport of containers and cars to and from the Bremerhaven ports.

The route was a hard-fought compromise between Hanover and the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, then independent countries.

This was expected to promote the development of the villages of the marshes on the eastern shore of the lower Weser (the Osterstade).