new milan central railway station

milan’s central railway station is the second-largest station in italy and one of the mainrailway hubs in europe in terms of size and traffic volume. located in piazza duca d’aosta in the center of the city, the station is used by over 320, 000 persons per day, around 120 million per year, with approximately 600 trains going through the station per day.

milan central railway station when first inaugurated in 1931 image © grandi stazioni spa

the railway terminal was first inaugurated in 1931, since the city’s old station was unable to cope with the constant increase in passenger traffic. on the 15th of january, 1906 a design competition was launched for a new station, but the project chosen was not built. six years later the same public administration held a new competition, which was won by ulisse stacchini. the monumental image of his winning design was sustained by heavy ornamentation consisting of crowns, festoons and abstract geometrical motifs.

milan central railway station image © designboom

now, more than a century later, the monumental parts of the station have been refurbished and restored, and the new milan central railway station was inaugurated last december. the building now boasts service facilities for the general public, new pedestrian flows,and interchanges with the underground railway renewed. the work was carried out by the rizzani de eccher italian construction company for 120 million euros and was completed without ever closing down the station and inconveniencing the hundreds of thousands of daily passengers catching trains from one of the 24 platforms.

in partnership with the local heritage preservation authorities, the main priority of the project was to restore all the monumental elements, bringing the station back to its original character. 60,000 square meters of renovated, premises, 23,000 square meters of public thoroughfares, 30,000 square meters dedicated to retail and catering, 16 new escalators for a total of 530 meters, 23,000 square meters of vaults and canopies restored and over 11,000 square meters of new marble pavings and cladding, are the highlights of this urban renewal project.

milan central railway station image © designboom

galleria delle carrozze, the main gallery outside the entrance of the stationimage © designboom

galleria delle carrozzeimage © designboom

galleria delle carrozze also entrances into the city’s subway systemimage © designboom

a detail of the motifs which decorate the walls and ceilings of the galleryimage © designboom

detail image © designboom

galleria delle carrozzeimage © designboom

entrance from piazza duca d’aosata into the central station image © designboom

new ticket office on the ground level image © designboom

the ticket office has been relocated to the middle of the new internal walking path connecting piazza luigi di savoia to piazza iv novembre. the new concourse and ticket office can be reached through the entrance on the eastern hall of the galleria delle carrozze. it can also be accessed by the two squares (luigi di savoia and iv novembre) or from the new escalators on the train platforms level.

passageway to the new ticket officeimage © designboom