However, it was preceded by a long history of dispute over the selection of the route between various canton interests between 1852 and 1857, known in German as the Oronbahnkonflikt (Oron railway conflict).

The West Switzerland did not agree and insisted on the route via Murten and called on the Federal Assembly to issue a "compulsory" concession, overriding Fribourg.

[note 1] The Fribourg Grand Council decided on 27 November 1855 to build a railway line at public expense from Yverdon via Payerne-Freiburg to Thörishaus on the border with the canton of Bern at the request of Julien Schaller.

Shortly later, Fribourg changed its plans and sought the construction of a direct route via Oron, which was about 26 km shorter, and issued a concession for it on 24 May 1856 to the Lyon-Geneva Railway (Chemin de fer Lyon-Genève).

The Federal Council then consulted foreign experts, who recommended against the Oron line because of the considerable technical difficulties and higher development costs.

Lausanne did not want to take part in negotiations proposed by the Federal Assembly, so the Confederation issued a compulsory concession for the construction of the line on Vaud soil to Fribourg.

The Bern–Törishaus section opened on the same day is located in the canton of Bern and belonged to the Swiss Central Railway (Schweizerische Centralbahn, SCB).

Financial difficulties, which arose during the construction of the Oron Railway, caused the LFB to transfer its line to the canton of Friborg on 12 November 1863.