The ASD put forward many railway projects in the early 20th century: a link with Gstaad via the Col du Pillon, connections with Chesières and Villars forming part of a grand Boulevard des Alpes linking Interlaken with Chamonix.
The authority to construct the railway was gained in three stages, that from Bex, a small town on the main Lausanne–Simplon railway, to Villars-sur-Ollon on 15 October 1897; from Villars to Chesières on 19 December 1905 and from Villars to Bretaye on 5 October 1911.