The Milano–Chiasso railway line is an Italian state-owned railway connecting

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

, 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 Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di 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 The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

) 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 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 ...

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

. 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 Lentate sul Seveso is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region Lombardy, located about north of Milan. Lentate sul Seveso borders the following municipalities: Mariano Comense, Carimate, Cermenate, ...

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 Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

from 1905.

Services

Since 14 December 2008 suburban services on this line between Como and

Milano Porta Garibaldi Milano Porta Garibaldi is a major railway station in the Italian city of Milan, located just to the north of the neighbourhood known as ''Porta Garibaldi''. ''Porta Garibaldi'' is the city's main station for commuter traffic with 25 million passe ...

have been operated hourly 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 ...

as line S11 of the

Milan Suburban Railway Network The Milan S Lines constitute the commuter rail system serving the metropolitan area of Milan, Italy. The system comprises 11 lines serving 124 stations, for a total length of 403 km. There are 415 trains per day with a daily ridership of a ...

. From 12 December 2004 regional passenger trains had been operated by TiLo ("Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia", a joint venture of

and Swiss Federal Railways). Line S9 operates between

Seregno Seregno (; lmo, label= Brianzoeu, Seregn ) is a town and ''comune'' of the new Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region of Lombardy. Seregno received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on 26 January 1979. It is se ...

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 450px, Map of the main branch of the FNM lines. FNM operates also the Brescia-Edolo railway in eastern Lombardy">Edolo.html" ;"title="Brescia-Edolo">Brescia-Edolo railway in eastern Lombardy, not shown in map. Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM S.p.A.) is ...

(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 Brianza (, , lmo, label= Brianzöö dialect, Briànsa) is a geographical, historical and cultural area of Italy, at the foot of the Alps, in the northwest of Lombardy, between Milan and Lake Como. Geography Brianza extends from the ...

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

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

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

References

Footnotes

Sources

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History

Services

References

Footnotes

Sources

See also