The line was opened in 1893 by the Yverdon–Ste-Croix railway company, largely as a result of the influence of
William Barbey from
Valeyres-sous-Rances, who financed the building of the line. The line initially used
steam locomotives to the articulated
Mallet design. Because of the influence of the religious William Barbey, the line did not operate any trains on Sundays. In 1918, after the death of William Barbey, the line began operations on Sundays. Like many Swiss railways, it suffered from a shortage of coal during the
Second World War and, in 1945, it was electrified at , using
overhead wires. In 1974 the railway pioneered the
Vevey system of
Rollbocks, which allows a train of standard-gauge wagons to be automatically loaded onto transporter bogies so that it can travel on a narrow-gauge line. On February 14, 1976, two railcars collided head-to-head between
Essert-sous-Champvent and
Valeyres-sous-Montagny at about . Seven people died and 40 others were injured. The accident was put down to human error; the two trains were scheduled to cross at Essert-sous-Champvent, but the line was not equipped with
automatic block signalling that would have prevented the accident. In 2001, the Yverdon–Ste-Croix railway company was merged with the
Pont-Brassus railway company and the
Transports Publics Yverdon-Grandson bus company to form the new TRAVYS company. The company has since also absorbed the
Orbe–Chavornay railway company. In 2013 and as part of a joint order with
Transports de la région Morges-Bière-Cossonay, the
Montreux–Oberland Bernois railway and
Transports publics fribourgeois, TRAVYS ordered three new trains for the Yverdon–Ste-Croix railway from
Stadler Rail. Of these, two will be used to replace older stock, whilst the third will allow the introduction of a half-hourly service on the line. The trains are due for delivery in 2015. == Locomotives and rolling stock ==