Milan–Chiasso railway

Milan-Chiasso railway
Overview
Status Operational
Locale Italy - Switzerland
Termini Milan
Chiasso
Operation
Opened 1840
Owner RFI
Operator(s) Trenitalia
Swiss Federal Railways
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
Legend
 Gotthardbahn
 50.765 Chiasso 230 MSL
 Italy/Switzerland Border
Monte Olimpino 2 (7209 m) / Monte Olimpino 1 (1919 m)
Link to Lake Como (dismantled)
46.619 Como San Giovanni201 MSL
Saronno–Como railway
Connection to Como Camerlata (dismantled)
41.679 Albate-Camerlata
to Lecco
Rosales Junction
 37.334 Cucciago 255 MSL
 34.171 Cantù-Cermenate 248 MSL
 31.764 Carimate 238 MSL
 27.092 Camnago-Lentate 217 MSL
 to Seveso
 Milan–Asso railway
 from Saronno
 21.598 Seregno 207 MSL
 to Bergamo
 18.436 Desio 200 MSL
 16.348 Lissone-Muggiò 195 MSL
 from Lecco and from Molteno
 (12.575) 11.934 Monza 160 MSL
 Milan north ring road
Autostrada A4—European route E64
 (7.695) 7.060 Sesto San Giovanni 135 MSL
 (3.984) 3.351 Milano Greco Pirelli
Tunnel Garibaldi
(0.000) 0.000 Milano Porta Garibaldi—Milano Centrale

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) 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 Regno Privilegiata Strada Ferrata da Milano a Monza ("Imperial United Privileged Railway from Milan to Monza") on 18 August 1840, the second railway opened in Italy after the Naples–Portici railway line.[1] The government originally intended to permit the line to be extended to Bergamo,[2] 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.[3] On 10 October 1849 line was opened from Monza to Camnago in Lentate sul Seveso and it was extended to Camerlata on 6 December.[1] The line was completed to Como in 1875.[3] 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).[4] Line S9 operates between Seregno and Milano San Cristoforo 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). There are some peak hours trains without a regular interval timetable. In 2006 integrated ticketing and subscriptions allowing travel using a single ticket on trains of both LeNord (FNM passenger services) and TiLo were introduced to facilitate rail traffic between Brianza and Milan.

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

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

Notes

  1. 1 2 Kalla-Bishop 1971, p. 20
  2. ↑ Zaninelli 1995, p. 85
  3. 1 2 Zaninelli 1995, p. 87
  4. ↑ Today's Railways 2009, p. 7

References

See also

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