It covers a distance of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) between Innertkirchen and Meiringen, where it connects with the Brünig railway line of the Zentralbahn company, which links Interlaken and Lucerne.

[1] The Kraftwerke Oberhasli (KWO) electricity supply company built the line in 1926 to support the development of the local hydroelectricity industry.

The line was originally built as a construction railway to support the building of hydroelectric dams in the Oberhasli and the Grimsel Pass.

It was built by the Kraftwerke Oberhasli (KWO) company, which was founded to build and operate the hydroelectric plants, and it was opened in 1926.

In 2003, the underground Aareschlucht Ost stop was opened, to provide access to the eastern entrance to the Aare Gorge.

This is some 500 metres (1,600 ft) walk from the lower station of the Reichenbachfall Funicular, which takes visitors up to the famous Reichenbach Falls, the site of the apparent death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional hero, Sherlock Holmes.

[1] Passenger services are operated once or twice per hour, seven days a week, with connections into and out of most trains on the Brunig line.

Freight traffic is run as demand warrants, largely carrying spare parts arriving via the Brünigbahn for the power stations.