Until 8 December 2007, there were passenger services on the route from Brunswick via Wolfenbüttel, Schöppenstedt, Jerxheim and Schöningen to Helmstedt, which was last marketed as the Südelmbahn.

The section from Helmstedt to Alversdorf freight yard has since been operated as a connecting line to a facility of the Energy from Waste (EEW) company, formerly half owned by E.ON.

The relocation of the railway line to make room for the expansion of the opencast mines was considered by the Brunswick Region to be too expensive.

[4] It was intended that the saved "regionalisation funds" (Regionalisierungsmittel) would be used for new light rail vehicles and an improved level of service to Schöppenstedt to be operated by the Regionalstadtbahn von Braunschweig (Brunswick Regional Stadtbahn).

[5] In a rating of 73 candidates in Lower Saxony for possible reactivation, the line had already been eliminated in the second stage and listed for "no further investigation".

The decision was made to have the estimated annual costs of at least €140,000 checked by an expertand and then to decide whether the route should be subsidised or closed.