The station was built in 18 months starting in 1855 by for the Chemin de fer de Paris à Lyon. From the beginning it was designed as a central station unifying the lines of the three companies then serving Lyon, which merged to form the
Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) as the station was opening. The building was built in classical style and is composed of a double rooftop and a large passenger building. The station lost its view of the city when an intermodal terminal (combining local public transit and intercity buses) and
dual-carriageway highway were built in front of it in the 1970s. Although much modern building has somewhat tarnished the look of the area, the station retains many of its original features: • The station front features the names of towns served by trains departing Lyon-Perrache. • The platforms are covered by two twin iron rooftops. It is the terminus of Lyon services to and from Paris on the high-speed
LGV Sud-Est railway line. It is also served by conventional trains from other parts of France, and is a terminus of
Line A of the
Lyon Metro. It is also served by
Lyon tramway lines
T1 and
T2. Today, Perrache is no longer the primary rail station serving Lyon. Instead,
Lyon-Part-Dieu station, constructed in the 1970s in a large planned business district outside the central city, acts as the more popular embarkation point for most high-speed trains, especially to Paris and the north. ==Future==