In 1856, a committee of representatives of the then districts of Meschede, Brilon, Arnsberg, Soest and Iserlohn and the independent cities of Dortmund and Hamm was established to lobby for the construction of a railway line through the Sauerland.

[3] The town of Brilon was not connected to the line (topographical reasons made this impossible), but instead Brilon-Wald station was created about seven kilometres south of it.

From autumn 1944 to April 1945 the Upper Ruhr Valley Railway was repeatedly attacked at low altitude by bombers and later by fighter-bombers and fighters.

[4] The main target on the line in 1945, the Arnsberg viaduct, was attacked seven times between 9 February and 19 March 1945.

In addition to the Arnsberg viaduct bridges and then larger stations such as Bestwig, Meschede and Schwerte were subject to massive attacks and destroyed along with the surrounding buildings.

A proposal for rail electrification in the early 1990s omitted the Upper Ruhr Valley Railway because of the immense cost of producing the necessary clearance profile for the overhead line in its many tunnels.

The Brilon Wald–Warburg section is now only a single track with crossing loops in Messinghausen, Marsberg and Scherfede.

On the line there are in normal operation, there is currently one permanent speed restriction at a level crossing between Brilon Wald and Hoppecke (20 km/h).

Long-distance trains coming from the west had to change to diesel traction at Hagen station as the line is not electrified.

The non-electrified line was for a long time served with diesel hauled regional trains.

These regional services connect the Higher Sauerland District with the urban centres of the Ruhr area.

[6] In addition, the Upper Ruhr Valley Railway gives access via branch lines to accommodate excursions to mountain resorts in the winter.

The Upper Ruhr Valley Railway between Hagen and Warburg is now served every hour by the RE 17 (Sauerland-Express) service.

The line is operated with RegioSwinger (class 612) sets between Schwerte and Wickede at 140 km/h, continuing through Warburg to Kassel at a maximum speed of 140 km/h.

It is operated by DB Regio NRW with class 612 and 628.4 sets and is popular with tourists and users of the Schönen-Wochenende ("beautiful weekend") tickets.

The operation of freight on the Upper Ruhr Valley Railway long acted as an extension of the Mid-Germany Connection.