The line leaves Bremen Hauptbahnhof at its western exit and snakes through several tight bends through the former main freight yard and the "northwest node" to highway 6 passing the junctions of many freight lines to the bridge over the Weser.

Until the construction of the Weser tunnel, this was the northernmost permanent crossing of the river.

This connected all the ports between the Weser and the Ems to the south and east, in particular to Bremen, Hamburg and Hanover.

Today the line is consistently double track, electrified and cleared for operations up to 160 km/h.

The construction of the JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven is expected to significantly increase freight traffic.