Sestri Levante on 25 April 1870. On 25 July 1872 with the opening of the connecting tunnel between Genova Brignole and Genova Piazza Principe, the section of line to Sestri Levante was no longer isolated and was connected over the Apennines but especially to the line to Ventimiglia, which had been completed on 25 January 1872. Sestri Levante–La Spezia This was the most difficult section of the entire project. The railway had to run for long distances next to the sea and follow the twists of the coast to minimise the number and length of tunnels. In addition the bad weather of the winter of 1872 caused landslides, which forced changes to be made to the route during construction. Furthermore, since materials had to be transported by sea because long stretches of coastline were inaccessible by land, work was delayed by violent storms. Finally on 24 July 1874 the line was opened to traffic. This stretch of line was truly revolutionary because it ended the isolation of small towns of the eastern Italian Riviera (the Riviera di Levante), including the famous Cinque Terre villages, which finally had a permanent link with the rest of the world. This stretch included 51 tunnels totalling over 28 kilometres in a total length of 44 kilometres and 23 bridges with a total length of nearly a kilometre. Because of the difficult topography of the area and the harsh conditions encountered during construction, the line had been built as a single track. Duplication was completed in 1971 with the opening of the last section between Framura and Monterosso, which included the new Levanto station. The Mediterranean Network took over the line in 1885. In 1905 Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) was established and took over the line along with most other standard gauge railways in Italy. Electrification The Genoa-La Spezia line was electrified in two phases: Genoa–Sestri Levante was electrified with the three-phase system (3,700 V at 16.7 Hz) in May 1925 and converted to the 3,000 V DC system in February 1948. Sestri Levante–La Spezia was electrified with three-phase system in April 1926 and then converted to 3,000 V DC in April 1947. FS had started the conversion of its lines to DC in 1928. The electrification of the line was badly damaged during World War II and as a result it was rebuilt as a DC line. Features Operations are managed and controlled by