In 1898, the Qing government granted a concession to Britain to build a railway to transport coal in northern Henan Province.
[1] The line, completed in 1906, was 149.5 km in length and spanned Xun, Hua, Ji, Xinxiang, Huojia, Xiuwu and Qinyang counties.
In the fall of 1938, the Eighth Route Army led by Chen Geng launched repeated attacks to sabotage tracks and halt traffic on the line.
[1] The occupying Japanese forces removed track from the eastern section of the line between Daokou and Liyuantun to build the Kaifeng–Xinxiang railway.
[1] In January 1945, the Eighth Route Army launched the Battle of Daoqing and after more than 70 days of fighting, destroyed the Xinxiang-Daokou section of the line.