In 1856 a concession to build the railway was granted to the main Russian railway company (Главное общество российских железных дорог), but it failed to gather the required authorised capital. Afterwards the concession was granted to the Libava-Romny railway company which was founded by businessmen who were interested in exporting Ukrainian grain. The company was headed by engineer baron
Karl Otto Georg von Meck. Design works started in 1869. On 15 December 1871 the state finished and approved the design, the new railway line was supposed to cross the Courland, Kaunas, Vilnius, Minsk, Mogilev and Chernihiv governorates. The Gomel-Bakhmach-Romny portion was recovered by Soviet forces in September–December 1943; the remainder was recovered from German hands in June–August 1944 and January–May 1945. Today the railway is located in four countries, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine. Operation of the portion between the Baltic Sea and
Mažeikiai was discontinued in 1990. ==Notes==