The Victor Emmanuel Railway, which included both the Culoz-Modane railway across Savoy and the Turin-Modane railway across Piedmont, was largely built in the 1850s by the Kingdom of Sardinia and named after its king, Victor Emmanuel II. Until 1860 Sardinia included both Savoy and Piedmont. The line from Turin to Susa was inaugurated on 22 May 1854. Work on the tunnel began on 31 August 1857 and was completed in September 1871. Work had begun on the line between Bussoleno and Bardonecchia in 1867 and was completed at the same time as the tunnel. The tunnel and line were opened on 16 October 1871. By that time, the Savoy side of the tunnel had become part of France. The decision of the engineers to begin the line at Bussoleno in order to reduce the gradient on the climb near Meana was much criticized for bypassing the city of Susa, which was left isolated on a short branch line. The opening of the tunnel also led to the closure of the short-lived Mont Cenis Pass Railway. In 1865 the line became part of the network of the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (Upper Italian Railways, SFAI) on its foundation in 1865 and was taken over by the Rete Mediterranea (Mediterranean Network) in 1885. Finally in 1905 it became part of the Ferrovie dello Stato network.