It runs from Leipzig via Markranstädt and Bad Dürrenberg to Großkorbetha.

At that time it started in the Thüringer Bahnhof (Thuringian station) in Leipzig, which was on the eastern edge of the site of the Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (central station), which opened in 1913.

The line was electrified on 2 November 1942, but four years later in 1946 the electrical equipment was taken down and moved to the Soviet Union as reparations for World War II.

Currently it is served by Intercity-Express trains between Berlin and Munich and between Dresden and Frankfurt am Main.

Regionalbahn RB-125 services also operate hourly between Leipzig, Großkorbetha and Weißenfels.