On the outskirts of Stuttgart, the route continues to gain height as it crosses the plateau west of the Neckar, reaching its high point at Kornwestheim.

After the nearby confluence of the Neckar and Enz, the line runs to Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld through a very meandering valley, with only one loop at Neckarwestheim shortened by the Kirchheim Tunnel.

The line continues along the river, sharing its tracks with the Tauber Valley Railway as far as Lauda.

As part of a treaty between Baden and Württemberg, concluded in 1864, a link between the two lines was built, which was also referred to as the Lower Jagst Railway.

Since the line has many curves, top speeds are limited and it lost its utility for regularly scheduled long-distance service.

From July 2024 through December 2024, the line briefly hosted scheduled Intercity service for the train pair IC 118/IC 119 (Innsbruck Hbf – Berlin Ostbahnhof) while the Riedbahn was closed between Mannheim and Frankfurt (Main) for major rehabilitation work.

[2] The whole line is currently served by Regional-Express trains at two-hour intervals, which are supplemented by some additional services.

Regionalbahn trains run between Stuttgart and Mosbach-Neckarelz (via the Neckar Valley Railway from Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld), as well as on the Heilbronn–Osterburken section.

Between Lauda and Würzburg class 628 diesel multiple unit run at two-hour intervals, operated by WestFrankenBahn as Regionalbahn services.

Implementation is estimated to cost €22.3 million and is currently the subject of a dispute between the state of Baden-Württemberg and DB Netz, the operator of the rail infrastructure.

Due to geological instability, a 130-metre-long (430 ft) section of the line towards Besigheim had to be reinforced with pile foundations that were more than 40 m deep.