Chiasso railway station ( it, Stazione di Chiasso) is a station owned by the
Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). It serves the town of
Chiasso
Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.
As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of Co ...
, in the
canton of
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
,
Switzerland, and is also a border station between Switzerland and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
The station is both the southern terminus of the
Gotthard railway (owned and operated by SBB CFF FFS), and the northern terminus of the
Milan–Chiasso railway
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 an ...
(owned by
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) is the Italian railway infrastructure manager, subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), a state-owned holding company. RFI is the owner of Italy's railway network, it provides signalling, maintenance and other se ...
and operated by
Trenitalia
Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government, the company was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail tra ...
). It is situated a few metres from the border, with the eastern section of Platform 1 being located on Italian territory, and is separated from the Italian city of
Como
Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como.
Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...
by twin railway tunnels through the Monte Olimpino.
[
]
Train movements
Given its location, Chiasso is an important station, not only for the connection between Italy and Switzerland, but also for that between northern and southern Europe. The station is served by the long-distance trains that cross the Gotthard, together with S10 and S40 of the Ticino regional network, and line S11 of the Milan suburban service.[ The opening of the ]Ceneri Base Tunnel
The Ceneri Base Tunnel (CBT, it, Galleria di base del Monte Ceneri) is a Swiss railway base tunnel in the canton of Ticino. It passes under Monte Ceneri between Camorino in the Magadino Flat and Vezia near Lugano; it bypasses the former h ...
in December 2020 reduced travel times from Chiasso to by 20 minutes and led to an increase in EuroCity services to Milano.
the following services stop at Chiasso:Zürich Hauptbahnhof
Zürich Hauptbahnhof (often shortened to Zürich HB, or just HB; ''Zürich Main Station'' or ''Zürich Central Station'') is the largest railway station in Switzerland. Zürich is a major railway hub, with services to and from across Switzerland ...
and , , , or ;.
** two trains per day between and Milano Centrale or .
* : half-hourly service to and hourly service to Milano Centrale.
* : half-hourly service to and hourly service to .
* : hourly service to .
* : hourly service between and Como San Giovanni.
Border procedures
As the international border station, Chiasso acts as a transmission facility between the two networks. The traction voltages, motors and signalling systems of the two networks are different, and therefore trains passing through the station must change locomotives. The yard tracks are also required to be divided into two parts, connected to the station's central platform by a corridor, where there are also customs offices. Thus, trains for the Italian network start at separate tracks compared to the Swiss network.
With the entry of Switzerland into the Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...
, passport controls have officially been abolished. However, in practice, the Italian Guardia di Finanza
The ''Guardia di Finanza'' (G. di F. or GdF) () (English: literal: ''Guard of Finance'', paraphrased: ''Financial Police'' or ''Financial Guard'') is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. ...
and the Swiss Border Guard may still perform border checks on selected trains, both in Chiasso station and aboard trains.
Customs
Chiasso remains, for customs purposes, a border station for passengers arriving from Italy. Customs checks may be performed in the station by Swiss officials.[https://www.ktipp.ch/artikel/artikeldetail/der-bahnhof-ist-auch-ein-zoll/]
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
{{Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia, re80=yes, s10=yes, s40=yes
Railway stations in Ticino
Chiasso
Swiss Federal Railways stations
Milan S Lines stations
Railway stations opened in 1874
Neoclassical architecture in Switzerland