The line starts at 320 metres above sea level, when it leaves Tübingen Central Station to the west, with some services from Stuttgart running on from the Neckar-Alb Railway, and immediately swings to the south along the valley of Steinlach, which it follows to Bodelshausen.

The line continues down the Schmeie river, which it frequently crosses and, after passing through two tunnels, eventually reaches the valley of the Danube at Inzigkofen, where it joins the Tuttlingen–Inzigkofen railway.

The construction period of approximately nine years can be explained by the fact that many engineering structures had to be built and the line suffered from difficult ground conditions, requiring a total of 32 bridges.

The steep section between Balingen and Ebingen was built largely on an embankment in order to avoid landslides as a result of poor soil conditions on the escarpment.

The upgrading of the Zollernalb Railway for the operation of tilting trains, which was completed in 2001, included the construction of new platforms and underpasses at the stations of Dußlingen, Mössingen, Bisingen and Albstadt-Ebingen.

In the summer of 1997, Hohenzollerischen Landesbahn (HzL) took over the operation of all Regionalbahn (RB) services on the Zollernalb Railway, using Regio Shuttle RS1 diesel railcars.

Currently three services operate on the Zollernalb Railway at two-hourly intervals during the daytime:[3] The Interregio-Express trains between Tübingen and Albstadt-Ebingen stop only in Mössingen, Hechingen and Balingen.

Extra trains run especially in the peak hours, for school traffic and on Sunday evening, some of which operate on only part of the line.

Under the MORA C concept all freight operations on the line would have been abandoned in 2001, but this was averted as the result of an agreement between DB Cargo and the Hohenzollerischen Landesbahn (HzL).