Marseille-Ventimiglia Railway Line, Principality of Monaco

The Marseille-Ventimiglia railway project is not only an important infrastructure for the daily transport of goods and commuters, but also an excellent opportunity for sustainable tourism. In fact, the line runs along the Côte d'Azur, stopping in towns that are very attractive to tourists, such as Marseilles, Toulon and Nice, passing through the Principality of Monaco and crossing the Franco-Italian border at Menton, before arriving at the Italian station of Ventimiglia.

This project was far from easy to carry out, as it required an underground diversion in the section between Cap d'Ail and the Principality of Monaco and the creation of three strategic construction sites along the line: the first, in the western sector, near the junction with the line already in operation; the second, known as the "attack chamber", crucial for the advance phase; and the third, in the eastern sector, nestling in the Santa Devota valley.

Other strategic fronts, in particular for the 2.5-kilometre-long underground tunnel, for which 431 cubic metres were excavated using explosives and mechanical means, were built on the face at the natural western entrance and in the so-called 'attack chamber'.