The railway line was built to provide a direct rail link between the two Hanseatic cities of Rostock and Stralsund and to open up the area in between.

The line crossed the boundary between the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the Prussian province of Pomerania between Ribnitz and Damgarten.

Passenger services on the line ended at the station of the Friedrich-Franz Railway in the southeast of Rostock’s old town, which was later used as a freight yard.

As a result of the construction of these branch lines the stations of Rövershagen and Velgast developed into railway junction.

The military sidings connected from Ribnitz-Damgarten Ost to Pütnitz (airfield) and from Gelbensande to Schwarzenpfost, running for a few metres parallel and adjacent to the main line through the woods.

After Die Wende in 1989, many sidings and stations were closed and later partly dismantled (such as Rostock freight yard).

The sidings for the military trains of the National People’s Army were no longer needed and have been completely dismantled, the stations of Schwarzenpfost, Altheide, Langenhanshagen, Starkov and Pantelitz have not been served since 1996.

Consequently, all signal boxes that were no longer needed and freight sidings were demolished and the interlocking equipment that was housed in the old station buildings was removed.

During the line upgrade, the track in the section between Rostock and Ribnitz–Damgarten West was to be doubled because of the current high train density.

After the outcome of the review of the demand plan for federal railway infrastructure of 11 November 2010, it was decided not to pursue the project because of its unfavourable benefit-cost ratio.

Since December 2007, these have been operated using Stadler FLIRT railcars, which, because of their greater acceleration and higher speed, have reduced travel time on some sections.

Since they now run only between Velgast and Barth, although approximately hourly, Kummerow (b Stralsund) station is no longer served by any trains.

In the summer a train regularly runs on the route from Dortmund to Sassnitz, carrying vacationers from the Ruhr to the Baltic Sea.

Another Intercity train runs as the UrlaubsExpress (Holiday Express) Mecklenburg-Vorpommern from Cologne via Hamburg, Rostock and Stralsund to the seaside resort of Heringsdorf on the island of Usedom.

A special feature of the line is that all long-distance trains between Rostock and Stralsund may be used with local public transport tickets.