 The line opened on 30 June 1924.In a referendum in 1978, the population of the nearby village of Sare rejected a proposal to build a road to the summit of the Rhune, thus enabling the railway to survive.The concession to build the line, and operate it until 1982, was granted by the "département" to the "Société Anonyme des Chemins de Fer Basques", which changed its name to the "Voies Ferrées Départementales du Midi" in 1914.