Milan–Chiasso railway

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
Route map
	Legend
	Chiasso
	(power system change)
	Switzerland
	Italy
	Monte Olimpino 2 tunnel (7,202 m)
	lake link (closed)
	Como Camerlata to Como
	to Saronno, and Varese (closed 1966)
	Cucciago
	(opened 1849)
	tramway from Cantù and Como
	(closed 1934)
	Camnago-Lentate
	(opened 1849)
	Milan–Carate/Giussano tramway
	Lissone-Muggiò
	(opened 1882)
	Royal railway station of Monza
	(private, 1884–1900)
	from Lecco (via Carnate)
	and Lecco (via Molteno)
	Sesto San Giovanni
	(opened 1969)
	Milano Greco Pirelli
	(opened 1914)
	to Domodossola, Turin (HS and slow)
	and belt railway
	to Venice, Genoa,
	Bologna and belt railway
	Garibaldi Tunnel (1562 m)
	(opened in 1966)
	Milano Centrale (1864–1931);
	old line to Venice and Piacenza
	Milano
	Porta Garibaldi
	opened 1963 (surface)
	opened 1997 (underground)
	to Domodossola, Turin (HS and old),
	belt railway and Milano Bovisa-Politecnico
	Milano Porta Nuova
	Milano Porta Nuova
	(1850–1864)
	(1840–1850)
	Lake Como branch
	bridge over via Borgo Vico
	(demolished)
	bridge over Cosia torrent
	(demolished)
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;

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.^[2] The government originally intended to permit the line to be extended to Bergamo,^[3] 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.^[4] On 10 October 1849 line was opened from Monza to Camnago in Lentate sul Seveso and it was extended to Camerlata on 6 December.^[2] The line was completed to Como in 1875.^[4] 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).^[5] 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

Footnotes

^ Atlante ferroviario s'Italia e Slovenia [Italian and Slovenian railway atlas)] (1 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2010. pp. 21, 128–9, 131–2. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.
^ ^a ^b Kalla-Bishop 1971, p. 20
^ Zaninelli 1995, p. 85
^ ^a ^b Zaninelli 1995, p. 87
^ Today's Railways 2009, p. 7

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