In the following years it built a network of railway lines in the former Prussian provinces of Brandenburg and Saxony.
A new route was opened in an easterly direction from Cottbus to Forst (Lausitz) on 1 March 1872 and it was extended by 60 km over the Neisse to Sorau (now Żary in present-day Poland) from 30 June 1872.
A 24 km-long line was opened to connect with the trading centre of Leipzig on 1 November 1874 from Eilenburg via was Taucha in the Kingdom of Saxony.
However, it was not possible to divert substantial traffic from the competing routes that had been built earlier, so its income fell short of expectations.
Its management was transferred to the Prussian state railways on 1 January 1877 to increase efficiency and the HSGE was nationalised in 1885.