The line was opened in two stages: The line was owned by the Western Swiss Railways (Chemins de fer de la Suisse Occidentale), which already operated the Jura Foot Railway via Yverdon and the Lausanne–Bern railway via Fribourg.

Various mergers of railway companies led to the line becoming owned by the SBB at its foundation in 1903.

Most of the line was electrified in 1944–1947, late by Swiss standards and reflecting its low traffic.

The Givisiez–Fribourg section had already been electrified from 1903 to 1947 for the trains of the Chemin de fer Fribourg–Morat–Anet (FMA) at 750 Volt and side-contact third rail.

The line runs from Yverdon to Estavayer-le-Lac through the Grande Cariçaie wetland landscape along the shores of Lake Neuchatel, before running through the broad Broye valley.