It runs from Effretikon, where it diverges from the Zurich to Winterthur line, to Wetzikon, where it connects with the Wallisellen to Rapperswil line, and Hinwil.

The line is 22.5 kilometres (14.0 mi) long, standard gauge, single track and electrified at 15 kV  16.7 Hz AC supplied by overhead line.

[2] The Effretikon to Hinwil line was constructed between 1873 and 1876 by the Eisenbahngesellschaft Effretikon–Pfäffikon–Hinwil, but was operated from the beginning by the Swiss Northeastern Railway (NOB).

The line passed to the Swiss Federal Railways in 1902, and was electrified in 1944.

But in the other direction, to Bauma on the Tösstal railway line, the Dampfbahn-Verein Zürcher Oberland (DVZO) operates heritage railway services, with trains normally hauled by steam locomotives.