The first, 5.9-kilometre-long (3.7 mi) section was opened in 1962 and served mainly as a connection to Berlin Schönefeld Airport and the associated long-distance station.

In 2011, a 7.7-kilometre-long (4.8 mi) extension went into operation to connect with Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER).

Due to delays in the commissioning of BER Airport, this section has only been used for public transport since October 2020.

During the Nazi period, the Outer Freight Ring (Güteraußenring, GAR) was built to a temporary low standard; this ran in the area of the southern Berlin city boundary from the Berlin–Halle railway to the east.

The station did not serve public transport, but travellers passing through Berlin-Schönefeld Airport, which was opened for civil use in 1955, could use the trains stopping there.

[3] The construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 made a railway connection even more urgent.

Grünbergallee station (originally planned with the name of Falkenhöhe) was rebuilt and the former halt of Schönefeld Siedlung on the Outer Freight Ring was closed.

[2] The power supply of the line was built with a provisional substation at Grünau Cross, which was later replaced by a new building.

[2] In the 1990s, the Schönefeld area was chosen when the location of a new major airport for Berlin was examined.

An area in the southern part of the existing airport was chosen as the location for the new terminal building.

However, some train trips continued to be made to keep the line operational and to ventilate the underground airport station.

[3] Regular S-Bahn services finally began at the end of October 2020, shortly before the airport opened.

The line to the airport turns to the southwest and initially uses the former route of the Outer Freight Ring.

Therefore, the extension of the S-Bahn line continues on the axis of the former long-distance tracks from the southern island platform, which was therefore taken out of service.

At Selchow the line meets the long-distance tracks of the Glasower Damm Ost–Bohnsdorf Süd railway and they run together initially in a trough, then through a several kilometre-long tunnel to the east and then northeast to Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

This is where the S-Bahn line ends, while the long-distance train tracks continue to the Görlitz Railway.

With the construction of the extension of the line, a new turnback facility was built in Schönefeld station.