Line 1 (''Linea Uno'' in Italian) is the first underground

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...

line built in

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 ...

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 ...

. It is part of the Milan Metro and it is operated by ATM. Works on the line began in 1957, and the first part was opened on 1 November 1964, running from Sesto Marelli to Lotto station. The line is also called Red Line (''Linea Rossa'' in Italian), as it is visually identified by red signs. Due to its premiership, the line gave its red color to the Milan Metro logo.

Route

The line runs underground from the northern suburb of

Sesto San Giovanni Sesto San Giovanni (; lmo, Sest San Giovann, label=Western Lombard ), locally referred to as just Sesto ( lmo, Sest, links=no), is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. Its railway station is the northernmost st ...

to the city centre, then to the western district with two different branches, one northwest to

Rho Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...

, the other to the west to Bisceglie. It is long and serves 38 underground stations. Key points served by the line are ''

Duomo ''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as, a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. Monza Cathedral, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definition n ...

'', considered the center of Milan;

Castello Sforzesco The Castello Sforzesco (Italian for "Sforza's Castle") is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later ren ...

(with Cairoli station); '' Cadorna'', one of the busiest stations in Milan and in Italy; ''

Corso Buenos Aires Corso Buenos Aires is a major street in north-eastern Milan, Italy. With over 350 shops and outlets, it features the highest concentration of clothing stores in Europe. The architecture of the area is mostly late 19th- and 20th-century style; the ...

'' (with stations

Porta Venezia Porta Venezia (formerly known as Porta Orientale, Porta Renza and by other names) is one of the historical gates of the city of Milan, Italy. In its present form, the gate dates back to the 19th century; nevertheless, its origins can be traced ba ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

and Loreto), an important shopping street; and Rho Fiera, one of the largest fairgrounds in the world.

History

On 6 April 1952 the city administration asked for a project of a metro system and on 6 October 1955 a new company, Metropolitana Milanese, was created to manage the construction of the new infrastructure. The project was funded with ₤ 500 million from the municipality and the rest from a loan. The construction site of the first line was opened in ''viale Monte Rosa'' on 4 May 1957. Stations on the new line were designed by Franco Albini- Franca Helg architecture studio.

Bob Noorda Bob Noorda (July 15, 1927 – January 11, 2010) was a Dutch-born Italian graphic designer who lived and worked primarily in Milan from 1954 onwards. His works included design projects for major corporations and large-scale retail chains, publishing ...

designed the famous wayfinding and signage system. At first, stations were designed without the mezzanine floor. However, these were added to the final design to allow street crossing and the use of gates to collect tickets. The line from ''Lotto'' to ''Sesto Marelli'' (21 stations) opened on 1 November 1964, after seven years of construction works.

Rolling stock

There are 4 types of trains running on the line: the original first series trains, revamped original trains, AnsaldoBreda Meneghino trains and the new train introduced in 2015. The track gauge is the . The entire line is electrified by means of a

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

fourth rail A railway electrification system supplies electric power to railway trains and trams without an on-board prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars ...

at 750 V DC. Among the 63 trains running on the line, 20 entered service between 1964 (opening of the line) and 1970. Those trains are planned to be replaced by new Meneghino trains in the next few years. There are 17 Meneghino trains already operational as of March 2012.

Extension

An extension towards the north from Sesto Primo Maggio to Cinisello/Bettola is currently under construction. It is expected to be completed by 2023. The new section will be long with 2 stations (''Sesto Restellone'' and ''Cinisello/Bettola''), entirely underground. The total cost will be €206 million. An extension of the western branch from

Bisceglie Bisceglie (; nap, label= Biscegliese, Vescégghie) is a city and municipality of 55,251 inhabitants in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, in the Apulia region (''Italian'': ''Puglia''), in southern Italy. The municipality has the fourth h ...

towards the city limits has been approved. The new stations will be located at Baggio, via Valsesia and at Quartiere Olmi. The national government will provide €210 million, while the total cost is estimated at €350 million.

Gallery

File:Milan-Metro-Line1-4rail-track.jpg, A M1 tunnel showing the electrical feeding system File:Inside-Milan-Metro-Line1-train.jpg, Inside a fully revamped train File:Milan M1 train fourth-rail contact shoe.jpg, A train on Milan Metro's Line 1 showing the fourth-rail contact shoe.

Notes

References

Milan Metro MapNews and hystorical info about Milan Metro and is architecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Line M1 - Milan Subway (Metropolitana Di Milano) 1 M1 Milan Metro Milan Metro Line 1