On the initiative of several local people the Bavarian Eastern Railway Company (Bayerische Ostbahn) were given authority by the Bavarian concession of 25 November 1872 to build the railway line. As a result, the Ostbahn dropped plans under a previously granted concession of 3 August 1869 for the construction of a route from Straubing to Cham. Preparation for construction of the new line began as early as 1873. The search for a suitable route was extraordinarily difficult due to the steep climb from the Danube into the Bavarian Forest and the numerous valleys that had to be crossed. This promised to make the line expensive to build and not particularly profitable. On the other hand, with a better link from the new line from Plattling through the Isar valley to Munich there was the attraction of a lucrative connexion with Bohemia. In 1874 work started on its construction.