However, the section in the Württemberg heartland, had considerable intrinsic importance, especially for transport to and from Stuttgart, which suggested that construction should begin there.

The valley is surrounded on three sides by hills, which rise to 200 metres above Stuttgart and fall only slightly to the northwest, where there is a low pass called the Pragsattel ("Prag saddle", 306 m).

The city, however, had spread primarily to the southwest (i.e. inside the basin) where the valley was relatively wide, in the north, there was discontinuous development only as far as Schillerstraße (which is now the location of Stuttgart Central Station) and along the Neckar road (Neckarstraße, part of which is now called Konrad Adenauer-Strasse).

With 5,500 inhabitants, Cannstatt was much smaller than Stuttgart in 1840, but it had always been an important transport hub, as it was on an ancient trade route from the Rhine valley to the Danube (near Ulm) and the Neckar River was navigable downstream from here.

The ability of the economically weak Württemberg railway network to continue to extend its operations ultimately proved to be decisive for the country.

The first concrete suggestion of a railway line in the Stuttgart area was made by a commission that had been formed in 1830 on the orders of King William I.

Under this proposal, the northern railway would run from a station at Seewiesen (the current location of the University of Stuttgart) to Prag, which it would pass under through a tunnel, and via Korntal to the Glems valley.

The private railway companies were quickly dissolved when the original cost estimates proved to have been too optimistic, but stimulated further government planning.

This was to clarify, among other things, whether the Eastern Railway, that is the connection to Ulm, should be built along the Rems, the Kocher and the Brenz or directly along the Fils and then crossing the Geislinger Steige, which was relevant to the route to be used in the Stuttgart area.

This envisaged the building of the Stuttgart station on the Neckar road, with the line running to the east of the castle gardens to Berg.

The eastern railway, as initially proposed by Buhler, would have continued on the left (southwest) bank of the Neckar towards Plochingen.

The Austrian expert Negrelli, who was commissioned by the government, positively assessed the current plans, but realised at the same time that because of the progress of railway technology it was now possible to operate on steeper gradients and less costly infrastructure was needed.

The discussions led to the adoption of the Railway Act of 18 April 1843, which ordered the construction of the main lines.

Furthermore, the English engineering professor Charles Vignoles was appointed as a consultant to make a further review of the current plans as comments made by Negrelli on possible improvements raised doubts about their accuracy.

Among the many writings that were written by private individuals on the project, that of Johannes Mährlen, professor of the Polytechnic University in Stuttgart is notable.

This suggestion also raised official interest, especially since King William was opposed to a railway station on the Neckar road, near the royal facilities.

Etzel began to prepare new plans based on Mährlen's proposals and Vignoles recommended that they be accepted for execution.

Pending final approval of the plans on 12 July 1844, Etzel made just two changes: first, it should not bypass the Rosenstein, but pass under it by a tunnel directly below the castle, this would allow Cannstatt station be placed closer to the town.

Etzel gained approval for his ideas with a positive opinion from the Austrian engineer Ludwig Klein and the support of King William.

Also an unforeseen delay occurred when there was a water and mud intrusion into the Rosenstein tunnel had to be fixed; this was caused by the permeable basins around the castle.

On 26 September, a locomotive entered the Stuttgart station for the first time and, on 15 October, operations commenced on the entire Ludwigsburg–Esslingen route.

The standard gauge railway initially only had two tracks between Stuttgart and Cannstatt, but provision had been made for the later duplication of other sections, including the acquisition of land.

In 1850, railways reached Heilbronn and Friedrichshafen; in 1854, there were rail connections to Württemberg's two main neighbours, Baden and Bavaria.

A residential area was built in Prag for rail workers; its street names still refer to notable figures in the history of the railways.

For financial reasons—the Schillerstraße concept allowed for the sale of the former railway station premises in a prime central location—the latter prevailed and it was adopted by the Parliament in 1907.

Following the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, there were fewer workers, material and financial resources available, so the completion of the new infrastructure was delayed for years.

On 21 April 1945, German troops blew up the Neckar bridge to Rosenstein Tunnel, causing traffic between Stuttgart and Cannstatt to come to a complete standstill.

The relocation of the Central Station to the north along with the growth of the city to the southwest had given rise to considerations from 1930 of building an underground railway into the basin to supplement the existing lines.

The S-Bahn replaced the existing suburban services and included the lines between Esslingen, Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart from the beginning.

The Central Station's track field formerly extended to the corner of Heilbronnerstraße (until 1936: Bahnhofstraße) and Wolframstraße, this has been partially demolished.