It leads from Görlitz/Zgorzelec on the Lusatian Neisse via Jelenia Góra to Wałbrzych in Lower Silesia.

The first plans for connection of Görlitz with Waldenburg (Wałbrzych) via Hirschberg (Jelenia Góra) and further to Glatz (Kłodzko) appeared in 1853.

However, the Austrian Empire did not favor a construction major railway line running parallel to its border.

Before the Second World War, it was used to transport vast amounts of Silesian hard coal to Saxony and the Province of Brandenburg.

The railway was included in Polish territory in 1945 according to the post-war Potsdam Agreement.