The railway was originally opened in 1893, at which time it was operated by steam locomotives and carried both freight and passenger traffic.

Freight traffic ceased in 2005, and the original routing was closed, along with the rail connection to the main line network.

The railway is of standard gauge, has a length of about 6.2 kilometres (3.9 mi), and is electrified on the overhead system at 750 volts.

From south to north, the line serves stops at Strausberg railway station, Landhausstraße, Schlagmühle, Stadtwald, Hegermühle, Wolfstal, Käthe-Kollwitz-Straße, Elisabethstraße and Lustgarten.

[1] The line had been mainly operated by three ČKD Tatra KT8D5 tram cars, built in 1989/1990 and acquired from Košice in 1995.