in 1848, construction had already been completed of the main line of the private stargard-posen railway company ("stargard-posener eisenbahn"), between stargard and posen (poznań). this line is now part of the poznań–szczecin railway. in the middle of the line near the village of lukatz, a railway station was created at a junction of a line to kustrin (kostrzyn nad odrą). from this same station, the first 145 km long section of the eastern railway was built via schneidemühl (piła główna) to bromberg; this was opened on 27 july 1851. the station near lukatz was later called "kreuz" (cross), which, from 1936, was the official name of the town. it became an important railway junction. it is now called krzyż wielkopolski in polish. the continuation of the first section via dirschau (tczew) to danzig (161 km) was completed on 6 august 1852. during this time, trains between kreuz and berlin ran via the berlin-stettin railway and the stargard–posen line.