The railway company that built it, the Werra Eisenbahngesellschaft with its headquarters in Meiningen was also often called the Werrabahn.

All assets of the Werra Railway Company were acquired by the Prussian state on 1 October 1895 for 25 million marks.

The establishment of the border between occupation zones led to the closure of the line between Eisfeld and Görsdorf Station, which is in Bavaria.

Passenger traffic was maintained in Bavaria by a bus service up the Lauter valley to Rottenbach.

Freight trains operated to Tiefenlauter until 1 July 1976 but on 6 April 1977 the line was closed and subsequently dismantled.

In the last years of East Germany a daily fast train ran from Bad Salzungen via Eisenach to Zwickau.

On another section of the line an express train for construction workers ran on Monday, generally shortly after midnight, from Bad Salzungen via Meiningen and Erfurt to Berlin.

Only on the short section between Meiningen and Grimmenthal did fast trains run more often than daily to destinations including Berlin, Leipzig, Halle (Saale), Dresden, Görlitz and Stralsund, alternating between the Werra line via Eisenach and the direct line to Erfurt.

There has been pressure to reopen the 17 km long closed section between Eisfeld and Coburg in Upper Franconia, which would require some rerouting because of building on its route.