The line leaves Bremen Hauptbahnhof at its western exit and snakes through several tight bends through the former main freight yard and the "northwest node" to highway 6 passing the junctions of many freight lines to the bridge over the Weser.
The line continues through Bremen-Neustadt in a westerly direction to Delmenhorst, where a busy line branches off to Vechta and Osnabrück (operated by NordWestBahn).