[4] The first sections that were opened in 1840 led from Benfeld to Colmar, and from Mulhouse to Saint-Louis near the Swiss border.

Finally in 1844 the sections between Strasbourg and Koenigshoffen, and between Saint-Louis and the France–Switzerland border were opened.

[3] With its southern terminus at Basel St. Johann, it was the first railway line to serve Switzerland, before the Spanisch-Brötli-Bahn.

[5] The line was, from the start, planned and opened as a double track route, with trains travelling on the right.

In 1919 and again in 1945 the region reverted to French control, but on the Strasburg-Basel line, as in the rest of Alsace where twin tracks are involved, trains continue to travel on the right.