Lloyd Railway
In 1850, a branch was opened from the Bad Kleinen–Rostock railway 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 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 was built by the Güstrow Plau Railway (), 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.