The first rail link in Mainz between the two sides of the Rhine was built in 1858 on the Rhine-Main Railway to Darmstadt, the capital of Grand Duchy of Hesse.

To the south of Worms, the stations of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim were connected by a train ferry in 1863, which was replaced by a fixed bridge in 1867.

The west bank line from the Rhine to Worms Hauptbahnhof was opened together with the ferry operation on 12 August 1870.

While passengers used the steamer as a ferry and boarded a stationary train on the other side, freight wagons were loaded onto the barges.

The elaborate ferry operations of the Hessian Ludwig Railway was financed by a fare surcharge equivalent to an additional 8.4 kilometres.

A new line on the west bank connected Worms to the new Rhine Bridge at Hofheim, which was opened on 1 December 1900.

This enabled the uninterrupted movement of trains and allowed the ferry to be closed immediately.