[5] The decision on construction of the Lyon–Geneva railway was part of a project to reduce the travel time from Paris to the Swiss border from 6 days to 12 hours,[6] was finalized when a law was passed on 10 June 1853 by Napoleon III concerning the commitment by the treasury to the construction of a railway to the frontier of Geneva.

[7] The Seyssel-Geneva section was opened on 18 March 1858[8] with a halt in Bellegarde where the station building was in the style of a Swiss chalet.

This section completed the line from Bourg en Bresse to Bellegarde operated by Compagnie des Dombes et du Sud-Est.

[13] Upon its creation in 1938, the SNCF took over the operation of the Culoz-Bellegarde line from the PLM,[8] and over time created new links to western Switzerland.

From 10 June 1959, the Alpazur connection (Genève - Bellegarde - Grenoble - Veynes-Dévoluy - Digne) returning via the ligne des Alpes was operated with X4200 class panoramic railcars.

Then on 31 May 1964, a first-class express train, Le Rhodanien, was put on the line linking Geneva to Marseille.

1969 saw the arrival Catalan-Talgo trains on the creation of a Trans-Europ-Express link between Geneva and Barcelona via Bellegarde, Chambéry et Grenoble on 1 June.

On 1 October 1972, X4500 class railcars went into service on the Valence - Geneva route via Grenoble, Chambéry et Bellegarde, then on 28 September 1975, first generation turbotrains (so-called 'ETGs') took over.

The introduction of TGV services to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine on 22 September 1981, the completion of the autoroutes from Lyon to Geneva and the opening of the Mont Blanc Tunnel all greatly improved access to Bellegarde, enabling the town to develop through industrial restructuring which allowed Bellegarde to maintain unemployment below the national average.

In 1991, a project to bring Paris and Geneva closer was launched: to build a high speed line alongside the A40.