As the connection via Leipzig and Halle was no longer available, the lines had to carry most of the traffic, which had shifted from Germany's previous East-West orientation.

Providing a convenient bypass around the GDR, the lines also took international trains like the Copenhagen to Vienna expresses.

The Deutsche Bundesbahn favoured the faster connection via Hanover, Fulda and Würzburg over the Main-Weser Railway which had the disadvantage of the terminal station in Kassel, among others.

It was foreseeable since the 1960s that the existing railway line would be too overloaded and too slow for the traffic demand expected in West Germany.

Between Göttingen and Hanover, the former InterRegio services now run as InterCity trains, calling at Alfeld, Kreiensen and Northeim.

From Schlüchtern, the line follows the Kinzig river, ultimately leading to Frankfurt via Gelnhausen and Hanau.

Traffic on the North–South Line uses the Würzburg–Aschaffenburg railway, which mostly runs in the valley of the river Main between Gemünden and Würzburg.