The Güstrow–Schwaan railway is a single-track, electrified main line in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

History

In 1850, a branch was opened from the

Bad Kleinen–Rostock railway The Bad Kleinen–Rostock railway is a double track electrified railway in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The Ludwigslust–Bad Kleinen section of the line is double track. The line was opened in 1850 by the Mecklenburg Railway Compa ...

in Bützow to Güstrow. In the following years the network was further expanded, including a connection from Güstrow to Neubrandenburg opened in 1864, which was extended to Stettin (now

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

in Poland) in 1867. The line from Gustrow to Plau was opened in 1882. What was still missing was a direct connection between Rostock and Güstrow, the largest and the fourth largest towns in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The Neustrelitz–Warnemünde railway (Lloyd Railway) was put into operation in 1886, connecting Rostock with Neustrelitz and Berlin, but bypassing Güstrow. A year later, two lines between Rostock and Güstrow emerged almost simultaneously. On the one hand, the

Priemerburg–Plaaz railway The Priemerburg-Plaaz railway is a single-track, electrified branch line in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Route Like the Güstrow–Meyenburg railway, the line to Plaaz separates from the line to Neubrandenburg not in Güstrow ...

was built by the Güstrow Plau Railway (german: Güstrow-Plauer Eisenbahn), which provided a connection to Rostock via the Lloyd Railway. On the other hand, a state line was built by the Grand Duchy to Schwaan on the Bad Kleinen–Rostock railway. Originally the line was controlled from Schwiesow and Rukieten on the existing main lines, but by the end of the 19th century the line was controlled from local signal boxes in the stations of Güstrow and Schwaan. Mistorf-Bahnhof

In addition to local traffic, the line was significant for long-distance traffic. From 1895, trains from Berlin to Rostock and Copenhagen ran via Güstrow instead of on the direct route via Plaaz on the Lloyd Railway. After the Second World War, the Lloyd Railway south of Plaaz was dismantled as

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...

to the Soviet Union. As a result, after the reconstruction in 1948 of the Schwaan–Rostock line, which had also been dismantled for reparations, the Güstrow–Schwaan line became an important route for passenger and freight traffic. The traffic between Berlin and Rostock ran via Neubrandenburg and Güstrow. The route via Karow served as an alternate route. Güstrow station was rebuilt from 1952 to 1954 because of the increased freight traffic. The first relay interlocking of the ''Reichsbahndirektion'' ( railway division) of Schwerin went into operation there in 1954. Even after the reconstruction of the Lloyd Railway in 1960, the route was particularly important for long-distance services between Rostock and Berlin with more than half of the

Durchgangszug A ''Schnellzug'' is an express train in German-speaking countries, where it refers to trains that do not stop at all stations along a line. The term is used both generically and also as a specific train type. In Germany and Austria it is also ref ...

(express) trains continued to run via Güstrow. The line was electrified in May 1985. Since 1998, local trains running between Rostock and Güstrow have been included in the Rostock S-Bahn network. In subsequent years, the line speed was raised to 120 km/h and the last crossing opportunity located in former Mistorf station was removed.

Current situation

The line is served hourly (every two hours on weekends) by line S2 of the Rostock S-Bahn ( Warnemünde–

Rostock Hauptbahnhof Rostock Hauptbahnhof, also Rostock Central Station (from 1896 until the turn of the 20th century called ''Rostock Central-Bahnhof''), is the main railway station in the German city of Rostock. It is situated well to the south of the city centre, t ...

–Güstrow). Every two hours, a Regional-Express (RE5) runs on the Rostock– Berlin– Lutherstadt Wittenberg route; once a day this time slot is operated as the InterConnex service on the Warnemünde–Berlin– Leipzig route.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gustrow-Schwaan railway Railway lines in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 1850 establishments in Germany Railway lines opened in 1850 Buildings and structures in Rostock (district)