The reason for this comparatively early planning was primarily the former importance of Bad Wildbad as a spa, which was favoured by the kings of Württemberg.

The construction of the railway line would make the journey of aristocrats as pleasant as possible and promote the importance of Bad Wildbad as a fashionable resort.

In return the Baden government was able to build the line from Karlsruhe to Mühlacker, where it would connect with the Western Railway to Stuttgart.

Only the opening of the Nagold Valley Railway in 1874 allowed an alternative connection from Stuttgart via Weil der Stadt, Calw and Brötzingen to Bad Wildbad.

To facilitate these trips a connecting curve was built between the Enz and Nagold Valley Railways bypassing Brötzingen station.

In the first decades of its existence, the market developed very positively on the Enz Valley Railway, and several prominent guests of the resort—for example, in 1903 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands—travelled by train specifically for a cure at Wildbad.

In addition to the carriage of passengers to Bad Wildbad, trains, even including at times expresses, were used to carry freight on the final section of the route.

In the following years there were plans to duplicate the railway between Calmbach and Wildbad, but their realisation was prevented by the outbreak of World War I.

After the First World War, the route was absorbed by the newly founded Deutsche Reichsbahn and administered by the railway division (Direktion) of Karlsruhe.

In the 1930s, the Nazi organization Strength through Joy (Kraft durch Freude) organised trips on several weekends to Wildbad.

This was due to the increasing competition from cars and trucks, the decline in the traditional tourist traffic to Wildbad and the importance of companies such as the Krauth & Co sawmill.

Although Deutsche Bundesbahn attempted to counteract competition through the use of railbuses and the replacement of steam by diesel locomotives from 1962, it could not stem the loss of traffic.

Following its success on the neighbouring Alb Valley Railway from Karlsruhe to Bad Herrenalb, it suggested in March 1995 that the line be adapted for light rail (stadtbahn) operations.

Since 2003, the so-called Enztäler Freizeitexpress has run on some summer Sundays from Stuttgart to Bad Wildbad station and back.

This service is operated with historic class ET 25 electric multiple units by Stuttgart's Schienenverkehrsgesellschaft (rail transport company, SVG) and includes an extra baggage car for carrying bicycles.

Train crossings are possible on the line between Pforzheim Hbf and Brötzingen Mitte only at the stations of Neuenbürg, Calmbach and Bad Wildbad.

Rotenbach and Höfen an der Enz Nord halts have platforms that are only 20 metres long because the potential passenger traffic is very low.