It is a major axis for long distance passenger and freight trains between the Ruhr and the north and east of Germany.

It is the part of the trunk line built by the Cologne-Minden Railway Company (German, old spelling: Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, CME) from Köln Deutz to Minden.

[6] On 26 November 1985, at 11:29, an InterCityExperimental train fully occupied with passengers on the line between Gutersloh and Hamm reached a speed of 317 km/h.

During World War II it was badly damaged on 14 March 1945 by a Grand Slam bomb dropped by an Avro Lancaster of No.

[9] After the war, one line was reopened with a temporary steel strut for freight traffic, while passenger trains used a winding bypass built as a diversionary route prior to the bombing, known as the "rubber railway".

[10] The bridge was rebuilt after the war with only two tracks, creating a two-track bottleneck between Bad Oeynhausen station and the Neesen yard (in Porta Westfalica).

Regional-Express trains run on line RE6 (Rhein-Weser-Express, Minden–Cologne/Bonn Airport) every hour and other services operate on sections of the route.