The town council of Marbach had long petitioned the government for a connection to the railway network, which the new line would provide.

A huge iron truss viaduct with sandstone pillars was built over the Neckar valley between Marbach and Benningen.

Passenger traffic on the line was initially moderate, but increased in 1881 with the completion of the connection between Beihingen (now part of Freiberg am Neckar) and Ludwigsburg.

Its equipment included a turntable, a goods shed and a Rollbock facility for transferring standard gauge freight wagons.

The largest crowd at the station was in June 1934 for the celebration of the 175th birthday of the poet and dramatist, Friedrich Schiller, who was born in the town.

In the last days of World War II retreating troops of the Wehrmacht blew up the Neckar River viaduct.

Although the last section of the Bottwar Valley Railway to the junction with the line to the power station has never officially been closed, it is now overgrown by trees and shrubs.

A plan to reactivate the Bottwar Valley Railway from Marbach to Beilstein that emerged in the 1990s is opposed by the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the municipalities due to its high estimated cost and uncertain revenue.