There is no longer freight traffic on the line, with the exception of AB's own construction trains, as the main customers, Starrag and Wolfhalden grain mill, have ceased to exist.

During the reorganisation of Swiss freight traffic, many service points with a lower volume of goods, including all of the RHB, were discontinued.

The motor car BDeh 3/6 25 was repaired between September 2009 to May 2010 in the main workshop of the Rhaetian Railway in Landquart.

Due to declining frequencies and a cost recovery rate of less than 30%, the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen are considering whether the three rack railways operated by Appenzeller Bahnen (Rorschach Hafen to Heiden, Altstätten Stadt to Gais, and from Rheineck to Walzenhausen) should continue to operate.

Early plans for an adhesion railway were soon discarded in favour of a shorter rack-and-pinion line from Rorschach.

[1]: 27 The entire route was 7,163 m long at the start of operations, 5,784 m of which were owned by the railway company.

At the beginning, the railway company had three steam locomotives, nine passenger cars with a total capacity of 400 people and eight freight cars with a total capacity of 56 t. In 1897 the company was issued a concession allowing the construction of a branch of its line of km.

For this purpose, a new track with a length of about 250 m was laid, which became an integral part of the entire railway system.

The line was electrified with the same 15 kV, 16⅔ Hz AC system as the Swiss Federal Railways network.