The 51.780 kilometre-long main-line runs mainly along the north shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) and is part of a route known as the Bodenseegürtelbahn (Lake Constance Belt Railway), connecting Radolfzell and Lindau-Insel.

The line was created to close the gap between the network of the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway (Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen) and that of the Royal Württemberg State Railways).

[2] The line has been served hourly since 2003 by the Seehänsele (the name is derived from See—"lake"—and Hänsele—a local carnival figure) Regional service (RB 31),[3] which does not stop in Stahringen.

SWEG Alstom Coradia LINT 54 (class 622) sets have been used for this since September 2019.

In addition, every two hours IRE 3 Interregio-Express Sprinter services (class 612 tilting trains) run between Friedrichshafen and Basel Bad (via the High Rhine Railway line), stopping only in Überlingen and Radolfzell on this line.