Milan–Chiasso railway

Milan-Chiasso railway
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	RFI
Locale	Italy - Switzerland
Termini	Milan Chiasso
Service
Operator(s)	Trenitalia Swiss Federal Railways
History
Opened	1840
Technical
Line length	51 km (32 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Electrified at 3000 V DC
Route map km elev FFS line from Immensee 50.765 Chiasso (power system change) 230 m Switzerland Italy Monte Olimpino 2 tunnel (7,202 m) Monte Olimpino 1 tunnel (1,919 m) lake link (closed) 46.619 Como San Giovanni 201 m Camerlata to Mozzate and Como Como Camerlata to Como to Saronno, and Varese (closed 1966) 41.679 Albate-Camerlata to Cantù to Lecco A59 40.340 Rosales junction 37.334 Cucciago (opened 1849) 255 m Cucciago tunnel (304 m) Seveso river Seveso river Seveso river tramway from Cantù and Como (closed 1934) 34.171 Cantù-Cermenate 248 m Seveso river Seveso river 31.764 Carimate 238 m Seveso river 27.092 Camnago-Lentate (opened 1849) 217 m FN line to Seveso FN line Milan-Asso FN line from Saronno and Novara 21.598 Seregno (opened 1849) 207 m to Bergamo Milan–Carate/Giussano tramway Monza–Meda–Cantù tramway 18.436 Desio (opened 1849) Monza–Meda–Cantù tramway 200 m 16.348 Lissone-Muggiò (opened 1882) 195 m Royal railway station of Monza (private, 1884–1900) Galleria di Monza from Lecco (via Carnate) and Lecco (via Molteno) 11.934 (12.575) Monza (opened 1840) 160 m "Lecco" line / "Chiasso" line A52 (north ring) A4 (7.695) 7.060 Sesto San Giovanni (opened 1969) 145 m Sesto San Giovanni (old) 140 m (3.984) 3.351 Milano Greco Pirelli (opened 1914) 130 m to Domodossola, Turin (HS and slow) and belt railway installed in 2010 and 2012 (2.065) Mirabello junction 123 m to Venice, Genoa, Bologna and belt railway (1.744) Garibaldi Tunnel (1562 m) (opened in 1966) 0.000 0.000 Milano Centrale (opened in 1931) Milano Centrale (1864–1931); old line to Venice and Piacenza Milano Porta Nuova (1931–1961) (0.182) (0.000) 4.770 Milano Porta Garibaldi opened 1963 (surface) opened 1997 (underground) Passante to Domodossola, Turin (HS and old), belt railway and Milano Bovisa-Politecnico Milano Porta Nuova (1850–1864) Milano Porta Nuova (1840–1850) Lake Como branch FS line from Chiasso FS line to Milan bridge over via Borgo Vico (demolished) bridge over Cosia torrent (demolished) Como Lago FS yard

The Milano–Chiasso railway line is an Italian state-owned railway connecting Milan to Como and Chiasso, Switzerland.

It is electrified at 3000 volts DC. Between Milan and Monza it has four tracks and is used not only by trains operating to and from Como, but also by freight and passenger trains connecting Milan with Bergamo and Lecco, either directly or routed via Molteno. North of Monza, it has two tracks, but between the junction "Bivio Rosales" and Chiasso there is a parallel double track line (used mainly by freight trains to bypass the steep incline to Como) including Monte Olimpino 2 tunnel (7207 m).

History

The first section of the line is the Milan–Monza line, which was opened by the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia (part of the Austrian Empire) as the Imperiale Regia Privilegiata Strada Ferrata da Milano a Monza ("Imperial Royal Privileged Railway from Milan to Monza") on 18 August 1840, the second railway opened in Italy after the Naples–Portici railway line. The government originally intended to permit the line to be extended to Bergamo, but had intended that a separate concession be granted for a line from Milan to Como. Instead, it decided to scale down the project by allowing the Monza line to be extended to Como. On 10 October 1849 line was opened from Monza to Camnago in Lentate sul Seveso and it was extended to Camerlata on 6 December. The line was completed to Como in 1875. It was part of the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (Upper Italian Railways) from 1865, the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Railway Company) from 1885 and Ferrovie dello Stato from 1905.

Services

Since 14 December 2008 suburban services on this line between Como and Milano Porta Garibaldi have been operated hourly by Trenitalia as line S11 of the Milan Suburban Railway Network. From 12 December 2004 regional passenger trains had been operated by TiLo ("Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia", a joint venture of Ferrovie dello Stato and Swiss Federal Railways). Line S11 runs, as of 2024, every 30 minutes per direction, alternatively with terminus at Como San Giovanni or Chiasso; it is operated by Trenord, as most of Milan S lines.

Line S9 operates between Saronno and Albairate-Vermezzo via the ring railway. Camnago-Lentate station is the northern terminus of line S4, using the Camnago–Seveso link of the Milan–Asso line, and provides a link to Milan Cadorna station and the lines of Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM); lines S4 and S11 are scheduled in order to allow for interchange in both directions at Camnago-Lentate.

Additionally, regional express trains run hourly from Locarno to Milano Centrale, using this railway for part of their route and calling only at Chiasso, Como San Giovanni, Como Camerlata, Seregno and Monza.

The section beteween Milan and Monza is also used by lines S7 and S8 of Milan suburban network to Lecco, respectively via Molteno and via Carnate, regional trains to Bergamo and RegioExpress trains to Lecco, Sondrio and Tirano, while the short section beteween Como and Chiasso is used by lines S10 and S40 of the "Rete celere ticinese", managed by TiLo.

In 2006 integrated ticketing and subscriptions allowing travel using a single ticket on trains of both LeNord, now Trenord (FNM passenger services) and TiLo were introduced to facilitate rail traffic between Brianza and Milan. In 2019, integrated tickets were extended to include every form of public transport in Monza-Brianza and Milano provinces.

The line is also used by long-distance Eurocity trains to and from Basel and Zürich.

The line is used by many railway companies to transport goods to and from Switzerland and northern Europe.

References

Sources

• D'Amia, Giovanna (2004), "Il collegamento ferroviario tra Milano e Como nell'età della restaurazione e le prime stazioni milanesi (The rail link between Milan and Como in the age of the restoration and the first stations in Milan)", in Godoli, Enzo (ed.), Architettura ferroviaria in Italia. Ottocento (Railway architecture in Italy, 19th century) (in Italian), Dario Flaccovio editore, ISBN 88-7758-599-4
• Kalla-Bishop, P. M. (1971), Italian Railways, Newton Abbott, Devon, England: David & Charles, p. 208
• Zaninelli, Sergio (1995), Le ferrovie in Lombardia tra Ottocento e Novecento (The railways of Lombardy in the 19th and 20th centuries) (in Italian), Milan: Edizioni Il Polifilo, ISBN 88-7050-195-7
• "Trenitialia reduces role in TILO", Today's Railways (157), Sheffield, England, January 2009

See also

• List of railway lines in Italy