[3] The station opened in 1877, and trains were initially powered by a steam-pumped hydraulic system, the engines using water brought 15 km (15,000 m) along purpose-built aqueducts from Bret Lake, north of Puidoux.

This was attractive to new businesses and warehouses were quickly built on the newly created land, owned by the Lausanne-Ouchy railway company.

The LEB company, whose line historically only reached as far as Lausanne-Chauderon, had long aspired to a station actually within the city centre, and on 28 May[citation needed] 2000 its new underground platforms opened.

This green-roofed structure, which also contains one of TL's two main ticket offices,[10] was constructed slightly to the north of the 1950s building of the Lausanne-Ouchy station.

[citation needed] Flon station is expected to reach 8 platforms by 2018, as work begins to build a third line in the city's Metro system.

[14] Major upgrade work is also planned on the LEB route by 2022, allowing the urban section as far as Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne to operate at a frequency comparable to the métro lines.