The line was constructed by the
Grand Duchy of Hesse, with a railway construction department being established in
Darmstadt for the construction of the line on 15 March 1903. It was opened on 1 April 1905 and operated by the
Prussian-Hessian Railway Company. The line was mainly for commuters from parts of modern Dreieich between Dreieich-Buchschlag (then: "Buchschlag-Sprendlingen") and Rödermark–Ober-Roden (then: "Ober-Roden") to
Frankfurt. Operations on the line were soon upgraded between Buchschlag and Sprendlingen and—beyond Ober-Roden—to
Dieburg because most of the commuters from the Reinheim and Dieburg regions wanted to go to Frankfurt or the
Opel works at
Rüsselsheim am Main. The Dreieich Railway offered a shorter connection than the Rodgau Railway via Offenbach. The Rodgau Railway (
Offenbach–
Reinheim) had been opened between Ober-Roden and Dieburg on 1 October 1896. replica in Sprendlingen station (today:
Dreieich-Sprendlingen) during the line's 50th anniversary (1955) At the beginning of the 1980s, the Dreieich Railway was listed by
Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) as a vulnerable line. Since 1990, there has been no regular freight traffic on it. The lobbying of the
Interessengemeinschaft Dreieichbahn ("Dreieich Railway interest group", IGDB) and municipal politics prevented the closure of the line. As early as 1988, there were initial plans to modernise the Dreieich Railway, which was implemented from the mid-1990s. The comprehensively modernised Dreieich Railway was opened in 1998. The costs were borne by
Deutsche Bahn (DB), the
state of Hesse and neighbouring municipalities. Since an extension of the
S1 S-Bahn line from Rödermark–Ober-Roden to Dieburg was classified as uneconomic, the operating concept was maintained, with trains running to Dieburg. This part of the Rodgau Railway was upgraded for
diesel operations and services on the line continued to run through over the Dreieich Railway. The 100th anniversary of the Dreieich Railway was celebrated on 1 and 2 April 2005 with steam specials. The extension of the direct award of the operation of rail transport services for the period from December 2011 to December 2013 to the former operator
DB Regio was announced in the Official Journal of the European Union on 13 December 2011. This direct award was later extended until June 2016. == Current situation==