Together with the building of the East Frisian Coastal Railway (Ostfriesischen Küstenbahn), the line was extended in 1883 from Emden via Norden, Esens and Wittmund to Jever and to Norddeich.

For a few years the South station was used only when required for occasions when the Hauptbahnhof could not be reached, such as when the bascule bridge over the Emden channel was impassable; it was soon never used.

The Emsland track was the last stretch of the former Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railways), on which steam locomotives ran in normal operations.

Best known among local railway enthusiasts were the operations of the Langer Heinrich, which hauled heavy ore trains from Emden to the Ruhr.

In 2012, the transport authorities, the Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen [de] (LNVG) and the Zweckverband Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL), put the operation of the Münster–Emden regional express to tender.

The contract was awarded to Westfalenbahn, a subsidiary of the Dutch State Railways, which started operations for 15 years from the timetable change in December 2015 with four-car Stadler FLIRT 3 electric multiple units from the leasing company Alpha Trains.

The trains run in double traction during peak hour and have up to 42 bicycle parking spaces per multiple unit.

In the meantime, however, mostly Alstom Traxx electric locomotives (class 146) are used with modern double-decker cars, branded Intercity 2.