The Bützow–Szczecin railway is a nearly 200 km-long, mostly non-electrified, single-track main line railway running mostly in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The first section of the line between Bützow and Güstrow was opened in 1850 by the Mecklenburg Railway Company () and is one of the oldest railways in Germany and is part of the Leipzig–Magdeburg–Schwerin–Rostock main line. History Route and construction In 1850, the Mecklenburg Railway Company, opened the line between Bützow and Güstrow, as a branch line of the Bad Kleinen–Rostock line built by the same company. An extension to the east was proposed to connect to the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. As there were few wealthy investors, the Güstrow–Neubrandenburg line was built by the government of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at the initiative of Grand Duke Frederick Francis (Friedrich-Franz) II. The line was formally opened on 11 November 1864 at Teterow station in the presence of the two grand dukes, Frederick Francis and Frederick William of Mecklenburg. The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz Railway (Großherzoglich Mecklenburgische Friedrich-Franz-Eisenbahn) was founded to operate the line, which later took over other lines in the country as well. The original headquarters of the company was in Malchin. In 1866/67, the line was extended from Neubrandenburg to Strasburg (Uckermark) on the Prussian border. At the same time the line was extended on the Prussian side from Pasewalk. There, the line connected with the Angermünde–Anklam line and the line between Szczecin (then Stettin) and Pasewalk that had already been opened on 16 March 1863 by the Berlin-Stettin Railway Company (Berlin-Stettiner Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft). 1875–1945 The Friedrich-Franz Railway was privatised in 1875 and re-nationalised in 1890, until finally after the First World War it was integrated into the German State Railways. The section from the border at Strasburg to Stettin was absorbed by the Prussian State Railways as part of the nationalisation of the Berlin-Stettin Railway Company in 1880. In 1890 the construction of the Bützow–Güstrow Canal required the line to be moved to the north in Bützow. At the same time the route of the line to Bützow station was changed with the connection to the Rostock–Bad Kleinen line being moved to face to the south rather than the north. This allowed trains to run directly from Bad Kleinen without changing direction. The bridge over the Nebel river on the old route is preserved in Bützow. In 1905, about five to seven pairs of trains ran on