The Royal Bavarian State Railways had decided in favour of a branch line (Lokalbahn) from Cham to Kötzting, however.

In its first full operating year 107,630 passengers and around 25,000 tonnes of goods were transported, resulting in a profit of 27,181 marks.

On 21 October 1904 the Minister of Transport, Heinrich von Frauendorfer, set so many conditions that the attempts were initially dropped.

And now there was at last a plan to build a railway line through the Zeller Valley, the proponents for which pressed for an extension to Blaibach.

In Gumpenried in 1984 the line was raised and straightened as part of work to build a power station.

If the trial were successful, achieving a minimum usage of 1000 passengers per day, the Bavarian ministry would authorise regular rail services between Gotteszell and Viechtach and provide all the funding.

As a result of protests because of the change from school buses to trains, which meant longer journeys for schoolchildren, a vote was held in February 2015 to ascertain the views of the local population.

[1] Following this result, the first steps were taken to prepare for regular services: railway lines, bridges and the tunnel were repaired, signal boxes were built at several level crossings, and stations were renovated or rebuilt.

The Regentalbahn will be operating the route with modern RegioShuttles called Waldbahn ("forest railway") trains.