 This was part of the ambitious project for the building of a railway system, considered by Cavour as an important part of the process of Italian unification.A railway was already in operation for a short distance west from Genoa, between the stations of Sampierdarena and Voltri, opened on 8 April 1856, which branched off the Turin–Genoa line.The rapid progress in the creating the Kingdom of Italy gave further impetus to the project leading to the proclamation of a law on 27 October 1860 establishing the "Ligurian Railway" (Italian