The line connects Freital, near Dresden, with the spa of Kipsdorf in the Ore Mountains, and follows the valley of the Red Weißeritz.

[citation needed] The railway was badly hit by the major flooding in 2002, which severely damaged most of the track and infrastructure.

As this increase has coincided with budgetary cutbacks for the Saxon narrow gauge lines, new sources of funding had to be found if the rebuilding were to be completed.

[4][5] Funding was secured, and work on rebuilding the remainder of the line resumed in 2014; the remaining section from Dippoldiswalde to Kurort Kipsdorf reopened on 17 July 2017.

The track begins at Freital-Hainsberg station on the standard gauge railway from Dresden to Chemnitz, and at an altitude of 184 m (604 ft).