Milano Centrale railway station

Milano Centrale
An ornate and extensively detailed gray stone classical portico with four sets of twinned columns at the top of which the Italian and European Union flags hang limply; above is clear blue sky. In front is a more modern one-story pavilion with an elevator in front of it inside a circular wall. Some people can be seen walking around.
Main entrance portico on Piazza Duca d'Aosta, 2016
Location Piazza Duca d'Aosta
20124 Milan
Italy
Coordinates 45°29′10″N 09°12′13″E / 45.48611°N 9.20361°E / 45.48611; 9.20361Coordinates: 45°29′10″N 09°12′13″E / 45.48611°N 9.20361°E / 45.48611; 9.20361
Owned by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
Operated by Grandi Stazioni
Line(s)
Tracks 24
Connections
Construction
Architect Ulisse Stacchini
History
Opened 1 July 1931 (1931-07-01)
Electrified 1938 (1938)
Traffic
Passengers 120 million per year
Location
Milano Centrale
Location within Milan

Milano Centrale (Italian: Stazione Milano Centrale) is the main railway station of the city of Milan, Italy and is the largest train station in Europe by volume. 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 but with a limited number of tracks and space, so could not handle the increased traffic caused by the opening of the Simplon tunnel in 1906.

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 Bern 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).

History

The first Milano Centrale railway station from Giornale dell'Ingegnere e Architetto, January 1865, vol. 13, Annex
A view of the arrival hall
The roof of the central section
Lateral view of the gallery. Photo by Paolo Monti, 1969

The first Milano Centrale station opened in 1864 in the area now occupied by the Piazza della Repubblica, south of the modern station.[1] It was designed by French architect Louis-Jules Bouchot (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 April 28, 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, whose design was modeled after Union Station in Washington, DC,[2] and the construction of the new station began. The purported style was an eclectic mix called "Assyrian-Lombard."[3]

Due to the Italian economic crisis during World War I, construction proceeded very slowly, and the project, rather simple at the beginning, kept changing and became more and more complex and majestic. This happened especially when Benito Mussolini became Prime Minister, and wanted the station to represent the power of the Fascist regime.[4] 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 earnest in 1925 and on July 1, 1931, the station was officially opened in the presence of Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano.

The station played a vital 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.[5][6]

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.” [7]

On September 25, 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.[8]

There remains unrestored and inaccessible areas to the public within the station including a waiting room with swastikas on the floor designed to receive Hitler.[3]

Train services

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 Bern, Lugano, Geneva, Zürich, Paris, Vienna, Barcelona and Munich.[9] The station is also connected to Milan-Malpensa Airport through the Malpensa Express airport train.

The following services call at the station (incomplete):

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 d'Emilia - Modena - Bologna - Rimini - Pesaro - Ancona - 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 service of Milan Suburbano at the Centrale station.

  • 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 - Senigalla - 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 d'Emilia - Modena - Bologna - Cesana - Rimini - Ancona - Pescara - Foggia - Bari - Trani - Brindisi - Lecce
  • Regional train (Trenitalia Regionale Veloce) Turin-Milan: Turin - Vercelli - Novara - Milan
  • Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) 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 - Codgono - Cremona - Piadana - 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)

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

On 11 December 2016, ÖBB will take over Deutsche Bahn's night trains. The Munich-Milan service will be withdrawn.

  • Night train (Thello EuroNight) Paris-Venice: Venice - Padua - Verona - Milan (Centrale) - Milan (Rho-Fiera for Expo 2015) - Dijon (F) - Paris (F)
  • Night train (DB City Night Line) 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)

^ Train connects at Verona with ÖBB EuroNight Rome-Vienna: DB CityNightLine splits into two trains (first half couples with ÖBB Rome-Vienna and leaves for Vienna or Rome; second half continues to Munich or Milan). Vienna-Rome splits into two trains (first half continues to Rome or Vienna; second half couples with DB CityNightLine for Milan or Munich).

Cross-border

After the opening of Gotthard Base Tunnel, train services between Milan and Switzerland will increase in frequency from 11 December 2016. All SBB-CFF-FSS Eurocity will save 35 minutes of total journey time between Bellinzona and Arth-Goldau.

From December 2017, a new cross-border service Milan-Frankfurt (DB-SBB Eurocity) via Zürich will be operational.

  • Regional train (TiLo Regio) Milan-Bellinzona: Milan - Monza - Como (San Giovanni) - Chiasso (CH) - Lugano (CH) - Bellinzona (CH)
  • Intercity train (SBB-CFF-FSS EuroCity) Geneva-Milan/Venice: Geneva/Genf (CH) - Lausanne (CH) - Brig (CH) - Domodossola - Milan - (Brescia) - (Verona) - (Padua) - (Venice)
  • Intercity train (SBB-CFF-FSS EuroCity) Basel-Milan: Basel SBB (CH) - Bern/Berne (CH) - Thun (CH) - Brig (CH) - Domodossola - Stresa - Busto Arsizio - Milan
  • Intercity train (SBB-CFF-FSS EuroCity) Zürich-Milan: Zürich (CH) - Zug (CH) - Arth-Goldau (CH) - Bellinzona (CH) - Lugano (CH) - Chiasso (CH) - Como (San Giovanni) - Monza - Milan
  • Intercity train (SBB-CFF-FSS EuroCity) Luzern-Milan: Luzern (CH) - Arth-Goldau (CH) - Bellinzona (CH) - Lugano (CH) - Chiasso (CH) - Como (San Giovanni) - Monza - Milan
  • Intercity train (Thello EuroCity) Milan-Marseilles: Milan - Genoa - San Remo - Menton (F) - Monaco Monte Carlo (MN) - Nice (F) - Cannes (F) - Marseille (F)
Preceding station   Trenitalia   Following station
Frecciarossa
toward Salerno
TerminusFrecciarossa
Frecciabianca
TerminusFrecciabianca
toward Udine
TerminusFrecciabianca
toward Lecce
TerminusFrecciabianca
toward Taranto
toward Basel SBB
EuroCityTerminus
EuroCity
Thello
toward Venice
ThelloTerminus
TerminusIntercity Notte
toward Lecce
TerminusIntercity Notte
toward Lecce
Treno regionaleTerminus
Preceding station   Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori   Following station
Italo
toward Salerno
Preceding station   Trenord   Following station
Treno regionaleTerminus
TerminusTreno regionale
TerminusTreno regionale
toward Bergamo

Platforms

 Malpensa Aeroporto Terminal 2
 Malpensa Aeroporto Terminal 1
 Ferno-Lonate Pozzolo
 Busto Arsizio Nord
 Castellanza
 Rescaldina
 
Saronno
 
Milano Nord Bovisa
Milano Cadorna
Milano Porta Garibaldi
   
  
 Milano Centrale
   

The station, along with Roma Termini and Firenze Santa Maria Novella, has security gates which prevent access to the platforms without a ticket.

Each platform is usually dedicated to some particular route. The current organization is as follows, although temporary changes may occur.

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 partially broken up.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ see also Milano Repubblica railway station
  2. ↑ "Design". RETOURS. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 Daverio, Philippe. Lombardy. Milan: RCS Libri, 2015. p 47.
  4. ↑ "Bombastic Sculptures". RETOURS. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "Mailand" (in German). Gedenkorte Europa 1939–1945. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  6. ↑ Bridget Kevane (29 June 2011). "A Wall of Indifference: Italy's Shoah Memorial". The Jewish Daily Forward.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Touring Club Guida di Milano, p. 471
  8. ↑ "100mln Euros to requalify Milan Railway Central Station". AGI. 2006-09-25. Archived from the original on January 5, 2007. Retrieved 2006-09-28.
  9. ↑ "International Destinations". Ferrovie dello Stato. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  10. ↑ Can easily be seen on Google Earth and most old maps
  • official page at Grandistazioni website
  • Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1936), "Milan Central station", Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 546–552 illustrated contemporary description of the station
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.