Milano Centrale railway station

Milano Centrale (Italian: Stazione di Milano Centrale) is the main railway station of the city of Milan, Northern Italy, and is the second busiest railway station in Italy for passenger flow^[3] (after Roma Termini) and the largest railway station in Europe by volume.^[4]

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The station is a terminus and located at the northern end of central Milan. It was officially inaugurated in 1931 to replace the old central station (built 1864), which was a transit station that could not handle the increased traffic caused by the opening of the Simplon Tunnel in 1906 due to the old station's limited number of tracks and space.

Milano Centrale has high-speed connections to Turin in the west, Venice via Verona in the east and on the north–south mainline to Bologna, Rome, Naples and Salerno. The Simplon and Gotthard railway lines connect Milano Centrale to Basel and Geneva via Domodossola and Zürich via Chiasso in Switzerland.

Destinations of inter-city and regional railways radiate from Milano Centrale to Ventimiglia (border of France), Genova, Turin, Domodossola (border of Swiss Canton of Valais/Wallis), Tirano (border of Swiss Canton of Graubünden/Grisons), Bergamo, Verona, Mantova, Bologna and La Spezia.

The Milan suburban railway service, however, does not use Milano Centrale but the other mainline stations: Porta Garibaldi (northwest), Cadorna (west) and Rogoredo (east).

Architect Aldo Rossi declared in an interview of February 1995 to Cecilia Bolognesi:^[5] "They told me that when Frank Lloyd Wright came to Milan, and he came only once, he was really impressed by it and said it was the most beautiful station in the world. For me it is also more beautiful than Grand Central Station in New York. I know few stations like this one".

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History

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Perspective

The first Milano Centrale station opened in 1864 in the area now occupied by the Piazza della Repubblica, south of the modern station.^[6] It was designed by French architect Louis-Jules Bouchot^[7] (1817–1907) and its architectural style was reminiscent of Parisian buildings of that period. The station was designed to replace Porta Tosa station (opened in 1846 as the terminus of the line to Treviglio and eventually Venice) and Porta Nuova station (opened in 1850 as the second terminus on the line to Monza, which was eventually extended to Chiasso) and was interconnected with all lines, either existing or under construction, surrounding Milan. It remained in operation until 30 June 1931, when the current station was opened. There is now no trace of the old station left.

King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy laid the cornerstone of the new station on 28 April 1906, before a blueprint for the station had even been chosen. The last, real, contest for its construction was won in 1912 by architect Ulisse Stacchini, who titled his project "In Motu Vita," meaning "Life in Motion" in Latin.^[8] His proposal was given unanimous approval by the commission gathered to judge the competition.^[8] The purported style was an eclectic mix called "Assyrian-Lombard."^[9]

Due to the Italian economic crisis during World War I, construction proceeded very slowly. Stacchini made multiple revisions to the project, mainly to quell concerns by the Milan city government about high construction costs.^[10] Benito Mussolini's ascention to the position of Prime Minister was the catalyst behind the resumption of work in 1925, as multiple public works projects were accelerated in order to bolster the reception of the Fascist government's ability to effectively manage national projects.^[11] The major changes were the new platform types and the introduction of the great steel canopies by Alberto Fava; 341 m (1,119 ft) long and covering an area of 66,500 square metres (716,000 sq ft).

Construction resumed in 1925, and on 1 July 1931 the station was officially opened in the presence of Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano.^[12]

The station played a major role during the Holocaust in Italy, when Jewish inmates from the San Vittore Prison, previously captured in northern Italy, would be taken to a secret track, Binario 21, underneath the station to be deported to extermination camps. Altogether, 15 deportation trains with 1,200 prisoners left the station from Binario 21. A Memoriale della Shoah was opened at the former platform in January 2013 to commemorate these events.^[13]^[14]

Its façade is 200 metres (660 ft) wide and its vault is 72 metres (236 ft) high, a record when it was built. It has 24 platforms. Each day about 330,000 passengers use the station, totaling about 120 million per year.

The station has no definite architectural style, but is a blend of many different styles, especially Liberty and Art Deco, but not limited to those. It is adorned with numerous sculptures. "The 'incongruous envelope of stone' (Attilio Pracchi) of this gigantic and monumental building dominates Piazza Duca d'Aosta."^[15]

On 25 September 2006 officials announced a €100 million project, already in progress, to refurbish the station. Of the total cost, €20 million has been allocated to restore "certain areas of high artistic value" while the remaining €80 million will be used for more general improvements to the station to make it more functional with the current railway services. The project includes moving the ticket office and installing new elevators and escalators for increased accessibility.^[16]

There remain unrestored and inaccessible areas to the public within the station, including a waiting room with swastikas on the floor designed to receive Adolf Hitler.^[9]

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Gallery

The first Milano Centrale railway station from Giornale dell'Ingegnere e Architetto, January 1865, vol. 13, Annex
Lateral view of the gallery
Swastika in the floor of the Royal Hall of the Milan Central Station
The Royal Hall designed in 1931 by the architect Ulisse Stacchini
A view of the arrival hall
The roof of the central section

Train services

Summarize

Perspective

The station has 24 tracks. Every day about 320,000 passengers pass through the station using about 500 trains, for an annual total of 120 million passengers. The station is served by national and international routes, with both long-distance and regional lines. Daily international destinations include Basel, Lugano, Geneva, Zürich, Paris, Vienna, Marseille and Munich.^[17] The station is also connected to Milan-Malpensa Airport through the Malpensa Express airport train.

The following services call at the station (incomplete):^[18]^[19]

Domestic (High-speed)

High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) – Turin–Salerno

Turin Porta Nuova – Turin Porta Susa – Milano Centrale – Milan Rogoredo – Bologna Centrale – Florence S.M. Novella – Rome Tiburtina – Rome Termini – Naples Centrale – Salerno

High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) – Milan–Bari

Milan – Bologna – Ancona – Pescara – Foggia – Bari

High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) – Milan–Venice

Milan – Brescia – Peschiera del Garda – Verona – Vicenza – Padua – Venice

High-speed train (Italo NTV) – Turin–Salerno

Turin – Milan – Bologna – Florence – Rome – Naples – Salerno

High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciabianca) – Turin–Venice

Turin – Novara – Milan – Brescia – Verona – Vicenza – Padua – Venice – (Trieste)

High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciabianca) – Milan–Lecce

Milan – Piacenza – Parma – Reggio Emilia – Modena – Bologna – Rimini – Pesaro – Ancona – San Benedetto del Tronto – Pescara – Termoli – Foggia – Bari – Brindisi – Lecce

High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciabianca) – Milan–Bari/Taranto

Milan – Modena – Bologna – Rimini – Ancona – Pescara – Foggia – Bari – Taranto

Domestic

For regional (Regio) trains to Monza and Como from Milano Centrale, refer to the cross-border services. There is no train of the Milan suburban railway service at Milano Centrale station, except for two late-night S8 trains bound for Lecco, which serve the last passengers arriving with long-distance trains.

Airport train (Trenord Malpensa Express) – Milan–Malpensa Airport

Milan – (Busto Arsizio) – Malpensa Airport

Intercity train (Trenitalia Intercity) – Milan–Lecce

Milan – Piacenza – Parma – Modena – Bologna – Rimini – Ancona – Pescara – Foggia – Trani – Bari – Fasano – Brindisi – Lecce

Intercity train (Trenitalia Intercity) – Milan–Taranto

Milan – Lodi – Piacenza – Parma – Reggio Emilia – Modena – Bologna – Faenza – Cesena – Rimini – Riccione – Pesaro – Senigallia – Ancona – Giulianova – Pescara – Termoli – Foggia – Trani – Bisceglie – Bari – Taranto

Intercity train (Trenitalia Intercity) – Milan–Livorno

Milan – Pavia – Tortona – Genova Piazza Principe – Genova Brignole – Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino – Rapallo – Chiavari – Sestri Levante – Levanto – Monterosso – La Spezia Centrale – Massa Centro – Viareggio – Pisa Centrale – Livorno Centrale

Intercity train (Trenitalia Intercity) – Milan–Ventimiglia

Milan – Pavia – Genova – San Remo – Ventimiglia

Night train (Trenitalia Intercity Notte) – Milan–Lecce

Milan – Piacenza – Parma – Reggio Emilia – Modena – Bologna – Cesena – Rimini – Ancona – Pescara – Foggia – Bari – Trani – Brindisi – Lecce

Regional train (Trenitalia Regionale Veloce) – Turin–Milan

Turin – Vercelli – Novara – Milan

Regional train (Trenitalia Regionale) – Milan–Alessandria

Milan – Pavia – Voghera – Tortona – Alessandria

Regional train (Trenord Regio) – Milan–Verona

Milan – Brescia – Peschiera del Garda – Verona

Regional train (Trenord Regio) – Milan–Tirano

Milan – Lecco – Sondrio – Tirano

Regional train (Trenord Regio) – Milan–Mantua

Milan – Lodi – Codogno – Cremona – Piadena – Mantova

Regional train (Trenord Regio) – Milan–Bergamo

Milan – Treviglio – Bergamo

Historic train (Fondazione FS / Trenitalia Storico) – Milan–Varallo

Milan – Novara – Varallo Sesia

Cross-border (Night train)

This section needs to be updated. (June 2018)

(CH for Switzerland, D for Germany, A for Austria, MN for Monaco)

The following night train was rerouted in 2020 to include stops at Milano Lambrate railway station and Milano Porta Garibaldi railway station:

Night train (ÖBB Nightjet, operated by Trenitalia) – Milan–Munich/Vienna

Milan – Brescia – Peschiera del Garda – Verona^† – (Rovereto/Rofreit) – (Trento/Trient) – Bolzano/Bozen – (Brennero/Brenner) – Innsbruck (A) – Jenbach (A) – Kufstein (A) – Munich (D)

^† At Verona, this train connects with the ÖBB Nightjet / EuroNight Rome–Vienna service. The combined formation is split as follows:

One half couples with the ÖBB Rome–Vienna and continues toward Vienna or Rome.
The other half proceeds to Munich or Milan.

The Vienna–Rome direction operates similarly, with one half continuing toward Rome or Vienna, while the other couples with the service to Milan or Munich.

Cross-border

This section needs to be updated. (June 2018)

After the opening of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in December 2016, train services between Milan and Switzerland increased in frequency. All SBB-CFF-FSS EuroCity trains (operated by Trenitalia within Italy) now save approximately 35 minutes in total journey time between Bellinzona and Arth-Goldau.

Since December 2017, a new cross-border service, the Milan–Frankfurt EuroCity (operated jointly by Trenitalia, Deutsche Bahn and SBB-CFF-FSS) via Zürich has been operational.

On 18 December 2021, a new Paris–Milan high-speed service was introduced, operated by Frecciarossa.

Current major international train connections include:

Regional train (Trenord / TiLo Regio) – Milan–Bellinzona

Milan – Monza – Como San Giovanni – Chiasso (CH) – Lugano (CH) – Bellinzona (CH)

EuroCity (Trenitalia / SBB-CFF-FSS) – Geneva–Milan/Venice

Geneva (CH) – Lausanne (CH) – Brig (CH) – Domodossola – Milan – (Brescia) – (Verona) – (Padua) – (Venice)

EuroCity (Trenitalia / SBB-CFF-FSS) – Basel–Milan

Basel SBB (CH) – Bern (CH) – Thun (CH) – Brig (CH) – Domodossola – Stresa – Busto Arsizio – Milan

EuroCity (Trenitalia / SBB-CFF-FSS) – Zürich–Milan

Zürich (CH) – Zug (CH) – Arth-Goldau (CH) – Bellinzona (CH) – Lugano (CH) – Chiasso (CH) – Como San Giovanni – Monza – Milan

EuroCity (Trenitalia / SBB-CFF-FSS) – Lucerne–Milan

Lucerne (CH) – Arth-Goldau (CH) – Bellinzona (CH) – Lugano (CH) – Chiasso (CH) – Como San Giovanni – Monza – Milan

The station is the terminus of the Milan–Paris Frecciarossa,^[20]^[21] which was inaugurated on 18 December 2021.^[20]^[22]

Platforms

Legend

The station, along with Roma Termini and Firenze Santa Maria Novella, has security gates, normally free flowing, though supervised by agents.

Each platform is usually dedicated to a specific route. The current organization is as follows (subject to temporary changes):

Platforms 1–3: Chiasso / Domodossola / Milan–Turin (AV FR), Milan–Malpensa airport train
Platforms 4–6: Turin / Milan–Como–Arth Goldau–Basel / Zürich
Platforms 7–13: Venice / Udine
Platforms 14–17: Bologna–Florence–Rome–Naples
Platforms 18–23: Genoa–Livorno / Ventimiglia / Parma / Cremona–Mantua / Milan–Treviglio–Bergamo
Platform 24: Operations

Unusual track layout

On the northern side of the railway yard, there used to be a loop curve so that trains could turn around and reverse back into the station. The trains could so be displaced from the left side of the station to the right side and vice versa without crossing all the tracks. The tracks on the loop curve are now partially broken up.^[23]

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