Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The No.1 switch post of the Lyon-Perrache station, built between 1928 and 1930, integrates into the viaduct of the Quarantine crossing the Saône. Designed as a compact Thomson-Houston-type technical installation, its architecture combines classicism and Art Deco, with apparent corner links and a sommital cornice. Its location overlooking the tracks, imposing a corbellation, optimizes the space: 22 m2 on the ground for 87.5 m2 on the 4th floor, where was the cabin of the switchmen.

The cabin, which was an operational core, housed a handle desk and an optical control terminal (TCO), complemented by living spaces for agents (toilet, kitchen, documentation). The lower floors, accessible by an open-air gallery with a view of the Saône, housed the electric relays. The post, modernized in 1952 with a reinforced concrete extension, controlled all traffic from Perrache east, south and north until its closure in 2016, its functions being transferred to Jean-Macé's central post.

This monument, classified entirely by decree of 23 March 2023, symbolizes the 20th century railway engineering. Its remarkable aesthetic, with a reinforced concrete roof lined with an access platform, makes it a major visual landmark for travellers arriving in Lyon via the Saône. It replaces an old Saxby post of 1900, limited to the western part of the station, and illustrates the technological evolution of PLM infrastructures (Paris-Lyon-Mediterranean).

Located at Rambaud quai, the station is located in a dense communications node between Perrache station and the A6 motorway tunnel. Its architecture reflects the technical challenges of the time: increasing traffic management, urban integration and operational functionality. The tripartite structure (soil, floors, cornice) and the use of modern materials (armed concrete) underline its key role in the Lyon railway network.

The post ceased operations in 2016, marking the end of an era for the switchboards who were relaying in three-eight. Its classification as Monument Historique preserves a rare industrial heritage, witness to the electromechanical innovations of the PLM. Today, there remains an emblematic vestige of Lyon's railway history, linked to the memory of the convoys of deportees who left Perrache during the Second World War.

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