The line was finally built by the State Railways of the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Großherzoglich Hessischen Staatseisenbahnen).
The line was opened as a Secundärbahn (secondary railway) on 20 December 1886 and Pfungstadt was incorporated as a municipality at the same time.
Deutsche Bundesbahn abandoned passenger services on 30 April 1955, but freight traffic (mainly wood and sugar beet) continued to 31 May 1997.
Initially scheduled for competition in December 2007, the reactivation was delayed due to necessary signalling changes at Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof and difficulties with a level crossing in Pfungstadt.
The annual operating cost, which is estimated to amount to €900,000, is shared by the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (Rhine-Main transport association, RMV) and Dadina.
[5] An order for four more diesel multiple units for the Odenwald Railway, placed by the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund in November 2007, provided an additional Itino set for the extension to Pfungstadt.
Of the total costs of €2.8 million, the state of Hesse assumed €170,000 and the rest was shared by the town and the federal government.