It was built in 1875 to shorten the route for trains on the Alsenz Valley Railway (Alsenztalbahn) running to Kaiserslautern.

As early as 1863, a proposal was presented in a memorandum to build the so-called Donnersbergerbahn (Donnersberg railway) from Kaiserslautern via Kirchheimbolanden to a connection on the Rhineland border in Alzey.

Since it was feared that it would have negative effects on the operation and above all the income of the Palatine Ludwig Railway (Pfälzischen Ludwigsbahn), it was not built.

As a result, demands were made for a direct connection between Kaiserslautern and Enkenbach since the previous line via Hochspeyer was regarded as too indirect, especially after 1873 and 1874, when the Zeller Valley Railway (Zellertalbahn) between Langmeil and Monsheim and the Donnersberg Railway (Donnersbergbahn) between Alzey and Marnheim had been completed.

They ran via the Alsenz Valley Railway to Langmeil and from there to the Rhine-Main area via Worms to Frankfurt am Main or via Alzey to Mainz.

After the extension of the Eis Valley Railway (Eistalbahn), which was opened from Grünstadt to Eisenberg (Pfalz) in 1876, to Enkenbach in 1932, some of its trains ran over the connecting line to Kaiserslautern.

DB received financial support from the federal government, which aimed to maintain the line for strategic reasons within the context of the Cold War.

[8] On 1 August 1971, the line came within the sphere of responsibility of Saarbrücken during the dissolution of the railway division of Mainz.

[10] On 1 June 1997, the line was reactivated for passenger operations in order to save trains running on the Alsenz Valley Railway to or from Kaiserslautern having to make the detour via Hochspeyer.

This is followed by a turn to the north-east and it crosses the A6 and runs parallel to the Eselsbach stream to Eselsfürth station.

Half a year later the line was extended to Frankenstein and in 1849 the whole route from Rheinschanze (now Ludwigshafen) to Bexbach was open to traffic.