The Domodossola–Milan railway line is a major Italian railway route and an important part of the European rail network. It is one of Italy's busiest lines for both passenger and freight trains. The line connects

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

Domodossola Domodossola (; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. It was also known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d'Ossola (due to it ...

with

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

, an important

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. The physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge) is provided by turnouts (US: switc ...

, via the

Simplon Tunnel The Simplon Tunnel (''Simplontunnel'', ''Traforo del Sempione'' or ''Galleria del Sempione'') is a railway tunnel on the Simplon railway that connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig, Switzerland and Domodossola, Italy, through the Alps, providing a shor ...

. Direct passenger trains ran from Brig to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(via

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

and

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

) and

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

via

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. The line runs through lower Varese Province, the valley of

Ossola The Ossola (; ), also Valle Ossola or Val d'Ossola (; ), is an area of Northwest Italy situated to the north of Lago Maggiore. It lies within the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola. Its principal river is the Toce, and its most important town Do ...

and along the shore of

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest lake in Italy and the largest in southern Switzerland. The lake and its shoreline are divided be ...

History

The line was completed to Gallarate in the early 1860s and was extended over the

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

River in 1882, reaching Domodossola in 1888. The Simplon Tunnel was completed and the line extended to it from Domodossola in 1906; it was duplicated in 1922. It was part of the

Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia The Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (''Upper Italian Railways'', ''SFAI'') was an Italian railway company from 1865 to 1885. History It was established on 1 July 1865 with of line it acquired from the state railway of the Kingd ...

(''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. (; ; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the initialism FS) is Italy's national state-owned enterprise, state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate service ...

from 1905.

Route

The line is fully electrified at 3,000 volts DC and is double track. In some stretches between Arona and

, the two tracks are not adjacent: the southbound line towards Milan runs directly along the shore of Lake Maggiore; the northbound line towards Domodossola is located a little inland because of the local geography. At Domodossola the electrification system changes to the Swiss system of 15,000 volts AC 16.7 Hz for the Simplon Tunnel. The regional passenger rail service is operated by

Trenord Trenord is a railway company which is responsible for the operation of regional and suburban passenger trains mainly in Lombardy. The company was established by the two main railway companies in Lombardy, Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM ...

. The section between

Gallarate Gallarate (; Lombard language, Lombard: ''Galaraa'') is a city and ''comune'' of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 54,000 people. It is the junction ...

and

is also served by suburban line S5. The railway is also served by long-distance

Eurocity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

and

EuroNight EuroNight, abbreviated EN, is a European train category that denotes many mainline national and international night train services within the Western and Central European inter-city rail network. Overview The classification and name were brough ...

trains, as well as the high-speed

Cisalpino Cisalpino AG () was a railway company, referred to as CIS in timetables, operating international trains between Switzerland and Italy connecting Basel, Schaffhausen, Zurich, Geneva, Milan, Venice, Trieste, Livorno, and Florence. The company ha ...

trains, which connect Milan to the Swiss cities of Lausanne, Geneva, Bern and Basel. The Domodossola–Milan line is also used by freight trains operated by Trenitalia Cargo,

SBB Cargo SBB Cargo is a subsidiary of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) specialising in railfreight and is operated as the Freight division. Swiss Federal Railways is a former state-owned and -controlled company that was transformed in 1999 into a joint-stoc ...

Italia and other private companies. The line passes through the metropolitan area to the northwest of Milan, across the plain towards

. It continues through the forests of lower Varese Province towards Lake Maggiore. After

Sesto Calende Sesto Calende () is a town and ''comune,'' with around 11,019 inhabitants, located in the province of Varese, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. It is at the southern tip of Lake Maggiore, where the river Ticino starts to flow towards the ...

it crosses the Ticino River on an iron bridge, which was opened to traffic in 1882. State road 33 (the Milan–

Simplon Pass The Simplon Pass (; ; ; ; ; ) is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig in the canton of Valais with Domodossola in Piedmont (Italy). The pass itself and the villag ...

road) uses the same bridge, above the railway. From Arona, the line largely runs along the western shore of Lake Maggiore, keeping above the shore, passing through the major tourist town of

Stresa Stresa is a ''comune'' (municipality) of about 4,600 residents on the shores of Lake Maggiore in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the Italian region of Piedmont. about northwest of Milan. It is situated on road and rail routes to the Sim ...

. After

Baveno Baveno is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, part of Piedmont, northern Italy. It is on the west shore of Lago Maggiore, northwest of Arona by rail. To the north-west are the famous red granite quarries, which have ...

, it enters the

Toce The Toce (; ; ) is a river in Piedmont, Italy, which stretches the length of the Val d'Ossola from the Swiss border to Lake Maggiore into which it debouches near Fondotoce in the commune of Verbania. The river is long and is formed in the uppe ...

plain and runs for about up the

valley to Domodossola. It then approaches the Simplon Tunnel through nine tunnels including the Varzo Tunnel, which is built as a

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

in order to gain height.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Domodossola-Milan railway Railway lines in Lombardy Railway lines in Piedmont

History

Route

See also

References