The line derives its name from the High Rhine (Hochrhein), which it follows between Basel and Waldshut and on a short section in Schaffhausen.

On 1 July 1871, the Swiss Northeastern Railway (NOB) opened the Lake Line section between Romanshorn and Konstanz.

The whole line — including the sections on Swiss territory — was owned under treaty by Baden State Railways and still belongs to Deutsche Bahn.

Between 8 June 1945 and 1 August 1953 the German railway infrastructure in Switzerland was managed by a trust authority established by the Swiss Federal Council.

East of Waldshut, the tracks divert from the river and run in northeastward direction towards Klettgau valley.

Shortly before reaching Konstanz, its eastern terminus, the line crosses the Seerhein over the Old Rhine Bridge.

[2] Up to the 1990s, express services ran from Basel Bad Bf, or Freiburg, to Lindau-Insel, with some continuing to München Hbf.

A Regionalbahn (RB), RB30,[3] runs hourly between Basel Bad Bf and Waldshut, with most trains continuing to Lauchringen.

The section between Waldshut and Lauchringen is used by the RB 37, which continues northwards to Weizen/Stühlingen on the Wutach Valley Railway line.

Fom Konstanz station, there are connections to the S14 and S44 of St. Gallen S-Bahn, a RegioExpress (RE), RE1, as well as InterRegio (IR) trains of Swiss Federal Railways.

The section of the line in the canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and adjacent German towns has its own services operated by the Swiss Federal Railways' subsidiaries SBB GmbH and THURBO (in addition to the S24).

The section between Schaffhausen and Singen, which connects the Gäubahn and the Swiss rail network and carries significant long-distance passenger and freight traffic.

A long-distance service between Basel and Herisau, via St. Gallen, is scheduled to begin operations with the December 2027 timetable change.

'High Rhine-Lake Constance Express'), will be operated by SBB GmbH, Swiss Federal Railways' German subsidiary.