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Urban Rail Link
Link stations railway modernization high-speed rail
work completed
- Feasibility study completed
- Initial design completed
- Final design completed
- Executive design completed
- Works management completed
Many railway lines from the whole of Lombardy converge on Milan. To develop rail services, a direct underground connection was constructed on the model of large European capitals, such as the RER in Paris and the German S-Bahn system.
The idea for the construction of the Underground Urban Rail Link goes back to the 1960s, but the first concrete proposals were made in 1983, when a General Agreement was drawn up between the Region of Lombardy, the Municipality of Milan, Italian National Railways (FS) and North Milan Railways (FNM, now LeNord). Metropolitana Milanese was entrusted with the task of designing and building the urban section of about 10 km (6.3 miles), with six underground stations and one on the surface.
The first construction site opened in 1984: the Repubblica station. The line was inaugurated in December 1997, with the opening of the Bovisa-Porta Venezia section to FNM trains, followed in May 1999 by entry into service of the branch line to Gallarate (FS trains) on the Certosa side. In July 2002, the stations of Villapizzone and Dateo were opened. In December 2004, the urban section was completed with the opening of Porta Vittoria and the surface branch line to Segrate: at the same time the new Milan suburban railway service was launched, the so-called S-Lines. In 2008, the Rogoredo branch, providing connections to Lodi and Pavia, also entered service.
The overall length of the track is more than 18 km (11.3 miles) (including connections to the external network), half of them underground, with 10 stations within the municipality of Milan, of which six are underground and four on the surface.