The Passante Ferroviario di Milano is an
underground railway
The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...
which runs through
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 ...
, Italy.
The first part was opened in 1997 and was completed in 2008.
[Storia del Passante]
- sottomilano.it
Its main feature is to be open in its extremities, and to be directly interconnected with the railway system of
Lombardy. It is only used by
suburban trains operated by
Trenord
Trenord is a railway company which is responsible for the operation of regional passenger trains in Lombardy. The company was established by the two main railway companies in Lombardy, Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM), to manage train ope ...
.
The ''passante'' is connected with
subway lines at
Porta Garibaldi station (
Line 2 and
Line 5),
Repubblica station (
Line 3),
Rogoredo (
Line 3),
Porta Venezia (
Line 1), and
Dateo (
Line 4).
The railway runs on the same line of the historic Milanese northern railway, which was removed in 1931 when the Milanese railway system was redesigned along with the opening of the grand new
Central Station
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
.
"Passante" is the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
word for "passing" and is used to describe a railway built through a major city, connecting suburban lines. This is modelled on
S-Bahn
The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...
underground junctions built in West Germany in the 1970s.
History
The idea of a suburban railway network for the city of Milan can be traced back to the 1960s, when the increasing population of the city and the surrounding boroughs made clear the need for a faster and more efficient way to complete medium to longer distance journeys. Designs for an underground railway passing through the city centre were completed at the end of the 1970s, and construction began in 1982, with the work expected to be completed in less than 10 years.
Actual work proceeded very slowly, taking 15 years just to open the first part of the track from
Bovisa
Bovisa (, ) is a district (''quartiere'') of Milan, Italy, located north of the city center, in the Zone 9. The name is supposedly derived from the Italian word ''bove'', meaning ''ox'', as the area developed from an ancient rural settlement.
Hi ...
to
Porta Venezia.
From 1997 only a shuttle service was operated on the partially completed track. Two years later the Certosa branch was opened and was completed in 2002 with the opening of the new ''Villapizzone'' station. In the same year the Passante was expanded on the south-east to ''Dateo''.
In 2004, in conjunction with the opening of ''Porta Vittoria'' station, the new suburban service was activated.
[Il Passante]
- msrmilano.com The cost at that time was already €915 million after 22 years of construction work.
The railway was completed in 2008 with the opening of the last station,
Rogoredo.
References and Notes
See also
*
List of railway lines in Italy
This is a list of all railway lines in Italy.
Active lines
Managed by Ferrovie dello Stato
High–speed lines
* Turin–Milan
* Milan–Verona (under construction)
* Verona–Venice (under construction)
* Venice–Trieste (planning p ...
Bibliography
* Fernando Malusardi: ''Il passante ferroviario di Milano.'' In: ″Ingegneria Ferroviaria″, July 1982, p. 478–484.
External links
*
Official page on Trenord website
{{Urban rail transport in Milan
Transport in Milan
Railway lines opened in 1997
Railway lines in Lombardy
Underground commuter rail