It connects Gau-Algesheim on the Left Rhine line (German: Linke Rheinstrecke) with Bad Kreuznach on the Nahe Valley Railway (Nahetalbahn) and is thus part of a regionally important transport corridor between the two state capitals cities of Mainz and Saarbrücken in the Saarland.

In 1879, a line from the Rhine-Main area parallel to the Nahe Valley Railway had already been discussed,[2] but only at the end of the 19th century did it seriously figure in the War Department's plans.

It used a short section of the Rheinhessen Railway from Worms via Alzey to Bingen between Büdesheim-Dromersheim and Gensingen-Horrweiler.

[2] Further consultation was required, partly because local residents and shopkeepers near the existing stations feared being disadvantaged and partly because the proposed name of the new station, Kreuznach Gabelung (“fork”) was considered a deterrent for tourism to the spa.

The old railway embankments are partially preserved and the connecting curve from Ockenheim towards Bingen can be easily seen today between the fruit trees that grow there.

To the south-west, the line continues through Planig, which is no longer a station for passengers, on the east bank of the Nahe to Bad Kreuznach, where it converges with the Nahe Valley Railway in Bad Kreuznach station.