The first section was opened in Prussian controlled Silesia by the Lower Silesian branch line Railway (Niederschlesische Zweigbahn) company on 1 October 1846, running between Głogów (German: Glogau) and Żagań (Sagan).

The next section was opened by Lower Silesian-Mark Railway (Niederschlesisch-Märkische Eisenbahn) on 31 December 1871, from Żegań to Żary (Sorau).

The final Prussian section of the railway line was opened on 14 February 1896, from Ostrów Wielkopolski to Nowe Skalmierzyce (Neu Skalmierschütz), near the Russian-Prussian border.

Following the reestablishment of an independent Polish state in the aftermath of the war, and the victorious Greater Poland uprising, the part of the line from Łódź to Leszno came under control of the Second Polish Republic, while a segment from Wschowa remained in German hands until Germany's defeat in World War II.

In the 1930s the line received a connection with the newly built Coal Trunk-Line, with a major junction in Karsznice, southeast to Zduńska Wola.