The station lost its view of the city when the transport interchange and dual-carriageway were built in the 1970s. Although much modern building has somewhat tarnished the look of the area, the station retains much of its original features:
It is the terminus of the TGV Sud-Est line, the high-speed railway line from Paris. It is also served by conventional trains from other parts of France, and is the terminus of Line A of the Lyon Metro. It is also the terminus of the two Lyon trams.
Today, however, Perrache is no longer the primary rail station serving Lyon. Instead, the Gare de Lyon-Part-Dieu, constructed in the 1970s in a large planned business district outside of the central city, acts as the more popular embarkation point for most high-speed trains, especially to Paris and the north.