Milano Centrale () is the main

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

of the city of

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 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and is the second busiest railway station in Italy for passenger flow (after Roma Termini) and the largest railway station in Europe by volume. The station is a terminus and located at the northern end of central Milan. It was officially inaugurated in 1931 to replace the old central station (built 1864), which was a transit station that could not handle the increased traffic caused by the opening of 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 ...

in 1906 due to the old station's limited number of tracks and space. Milano Centrale has high-speed connections to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

in the west,

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

via Verona in the east and on the north–south mainline to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

. The Simplon and Gotthard railway lines connect Milano Centrale to

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 ...

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 ...

via

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 ...

and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

via Chiasso in Switzerland. Destinations of inter-city and regional railways radiate from Milano Centrale to Ventimiglia (border of France), Genova, Turin, Domodossola (border of Swiss Canton of Valais/Wallis), Tirano (border of Swiss Canton of Graubünden/Grisons), Bergamo, Verona, Mantova, Bologna and La Spezia. The Milan suburban railway service, however, does not use Milano Centrale but the other mainline stations: Porta Garibaldi (northwest),

Cadorna Cadorna may refer to *Cadorna (surname), Italian surname *Cadorna (Milan Metro), a subway station *Milano Cadorna railway station, a railway station *Piazzale Cadorna, a Milan, Italy, square *Cadorna, a subclass of the Italian Navy Condottieri clas ...

(west) and Rogoredo (east). Architect

Aldo Rossi Aldo Rossi (3 May 1931 – 4 September 1997) was an Italian architect and designer who achieved international recognition in four distinct areas: architectural theory, drawing and design and also product design. He was one of the leading propone ...

declared in an interview of February 1995 to Cecilia Bolognesi: "They told me that when

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...

came to Milan, and he came only once, he was really impressed by it and said it was the most beautiful station in the world. For me it is also more beautiful than Grand Central Station in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. I know few stations like this one".

History

The first Milano Centrale station opened in 1864 in the area now occupied by the ''Piazza della Repubblica'', south of the modern station. It was designed by French architect Louis-Jules Bouchot (1817–1907) and its architectural style was reminiscent of Parisian buildings of that period. The station was designed to replace ''Porta Tosa station'' (opened in 1846 as the terminus of the line to

Treviglio Treviglio (; ) is a town and (i.e. municipality) in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Northern Italy. It lies south of the province capital, in the lower territory called . It is also part of the geographic area named , included among the r ...

and eventually

) and ''Porta Nuova station'' (opened in 1850 as the second terminus on the line to Monza, which was eventually extended to Chiasso) and was interconnected with all lines, either existing or under construction, surrounding Milan. It remained in operation until 30 June 1931, when the current station was opened. There is now no trace of the old station left. King

Victor Emmanuel III Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albani ...

of Italy laid the cornerstone of the new station on 28 April 1906, before a blueprint for the station had even been chosen. The last, real, contest for its construction was won in 1912 by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Ulisse Stacchini, who titled his project "In Motu Vita," meaning "Life in Motion" in Latin. His proposal was given unanimous approval by the commission gathered to judge the competition. The purported style was an eclectic mix called "Assyrian-Lombard."Daverio, Philippe. ''Lombardy''. Milan: RCS Libri, 2015. p 47. Due to the Italian economic crisis during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, construction proceeded very slowly. Stacchini made multiple revisions to the project, mainly to quell concerns by the Milan city government about high construction costs.

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

's ascention to the position of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

was the catalyst behind the resumption of work in 1925, as multiple public works projects were accelerated in order to bolster the reception of the Fascist government's ability to effectively manage national projects. The major changes were the new platform types and the introduction of the great steel canopies by Alberto Fava; long and covering an area of . Construction resumed in 1925, and on 1 July 1931 the station was officially opened in the presence of Foreign Minister

Galeazzo Ciano Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari ( , ; 18 March 1903 – 11 January 1944), was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister in the government of his father-in-law ...

. The station played a major role during the Holocaust in Italy, when Jewish inmates from the San Vittore Prison, previously captured in northern Italy, would be taken to a secret track, ''Binario 21'', underneath the station to be deported to extermination camps. Altogether, 15 deportation trains with 1,200 prisoners left the station from ''Binario 21''. A '' Memoriale della Shoah'' was opened at the former platform in January 2013 to commemorate these events. Its façade is wide and its vault is high, a record when it was built. It has 24 platforms. Each day about 330,000 passengers use the station, totaling about 120 million per year. The station has no definite architectural style, but is a blend of many different styles, especially

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

, but not limited to those. It is adorned with numerous sculptures. "The 'incongruous envelope of stone' (Attilio Pracchi) of this gigantic and monumental building dominates Piazza Duca d'Aosta." On 25 September 2006 officials announced a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

100 million project, already in progress, to refurbish the station. Of the total cost, €20 million has been allocated to restore "certain areas of high artistic value" while the remaining €80 million will be used for more general improvements to the station to make it more functional with the current railway services. The project includes moving the ticket office and installing new elevators and escalators for increased accessibility. There remain unrestored and inaccessible areas to the public within the station, including a waiting room with

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

s on the floor designed to receive

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

Dettaglio di una svastica nel pavimento della Sala Reale della Stazione Centrale a Milano

Sala Reale della Stazione Centrale a Milano

Gallery

File:Milano Stazione Centrale 1865.jpg, The first Milano Centrale railway station from ''Giornale dell'Ingegnere e Architetto'', January 1865, vol. 13, Annex File:Milano-Centrale-Entrance-Hall-2012.JPG, A view of the arrival hall File:Milan Centrale Stazione trainshed.jpg, The roof of the central section File:Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica (Milano, 1969) - BEIC 6330877.jpg, Lateral view of the gallery

Train services

The station has 24 tracks. Every day about 320,000 passengers pass through the station using about 500 trains, for an annual total of 120 million passengers. The station is served by national and international routes, with both long-distance and regional lines. Daily international destinations include

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

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 ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. The station is also connected to Milan-Malpensa Airport through the Malpensa Express airport train. The following services call at the station (incomplete):

Domestic (High-speed)

* High-speed train (

Trenitalia Trenitalia Società per azioni, SpA is the primary train operator of Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government. It was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulati ...

Frecciarossa) Turin-Salerno: Turin Porta Nuova - Turin Porta Susa - Milano Centrale - Milan Rogoredo - Bologna Centrale - Florence S.M.Novella - Rome Tiburtina - Rome Termini - Naples Centrale - Salerno * High speed train (

Frecciarossa) Milan-Bari: Milan - Bologna - Ancona - Pescara - Foggia – Bari * High-speed train (

Frecciarossa) Milan-Venice: Milan - Brescia - Peschiera del Garda - Verona - Vicenza - Padua - Venice * High-speed train ( Italo NTV) Turin-Salerno: Turin - Milan - Bologna - Florence - Rome - Naples - Salerno * High-speed train (

Frecciabianca) Turin-Venice: Turin - Novara - Milan - Brescia - Verona - Vicenza - Padua - Venice - (Trieste) * High-speed train (

Frecciabianca) Milan-Lecce: Milan - Piacenza - Parma - Reggio d'Emilia - Modena - Bologna - Rimini - Pesaro - Ancona - San Benedetto del Tronto - Pescara - Termoli - Foggia - Bari - Brindisi - Lecce * High-speed train (

Frecciabianca) Milan-Bari/Taranto: Milan - Modena - Bologna - Rimini - Ancona - Pescara - Foggia - Bari - Taranto

Domestic

For regional (Regio) trains to

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

and

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

from Milano Centrale, refer to the 'cross-border' services. There is no train of Milan Suburban railway service at Milano Centrale station, except for two late night S8 trains bound to Lecco, which serve the last passengers arriving to the station with long distance train. * Airport train ( Trenord Malpensa Express) Milan-Malpensa Airport: Milan - (Busto Arsizio) - Malpensa Airport * Intercity train (

Intercity) Milan-Lecce: Milan - Piacenza - Parma - Modena - Bologna - Rimini - Ancona - Pescara - Foggia - Trani - Bari - Fasano - Brindisi - Lecce * Intercity train (

Intercity) Milan-Taranto: Milan - Lodi - Piacenza - Parma - Reggio Emilia - Modena - Bologna - Faenza - Cesena - Rimini - Riccione - Pesaro - Senigalla - Ancona - Giulianova - Pescara - Termoli - Foggia - Trani - Bisceglie - Bari - Taranto * Intercity train (

Intercity) Milan-Livorno: Milan - Pavia - Tortona - Genova Piazza Principe - Genova Brignole - Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino - Rapallo - Chiavari - Sestri Levante - Levanto - Monterosso - La Spezia Centrale - Massa Centro - Viareggio - Pisa Centrale - Livorno Centrale * Intercity train (

Intercity) Milan-Ventimiglia: Milan - Pavia - Genova - San Remo - Ventimiglia * Night train (

Intercity Notte) Milan-Lecce: Milan - Piacenza - Parma - Reggio d'Emilia - Modena - Bologna - Cesena - Rimini - Ancona - Pescara - Foggia - Bari - Trani - Brindisi - Lecce * Regional train (

Regionale Veloce) Turin-Milan: Turin - Vercelli - Novara - Milan * Regional train (

Regional) Milan-Alessandria: Milan - Pavia - Voghera - Tortona - Alessandria * Regional train ( Trenord Regio) Milan-Verona: Milan - Brescia - Peschiera del Garda - Verona * Regional train ( Trenord Regio) Milan-Tirano: Milan - Lecco - Sondrio - Tirano * Regional train ( Trenord Regio) Milan-Mantua: Milan - Lodi - Codogno - Cremona - Piadena - Mantova * Regional train ( Trenord Regio) Milan-Bergamo: Milan - Treviglio - Bergamo * Historic train (Fondazione FS/

Storico) Milan-Varallo: Milan - Novara - Varallo Sesia

Cross-border (Night train)

(CH for Switzerland, D for Germany, A for Austria, MN for Monaco) The following train has been moved to stop at

Milano Lambrate railway station 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 Milano Porta Garibaldi railway station in 2020: * Night train ( ÖBB

Nightjet Nightjet (stylised as nightjet) is a brand name given by the ÖBB, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) to its overnight passenger train services. ''Nightjet'' operates in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Switze ...

operated by Trenitalia) Milan-Munich/Vienna: Milan - Brescia - Peschiera del Garda - Verona^ - (Rovereto/Rofreit) - (Trento/Trient) - Bolzano/Bozen - (Brennero/Brenner) - Innsbruck (A) - Jenbach (A) - Kufstein (A) - Munich (D) This train connects at Verona with ÖBB Nightjet/

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 ...

Rome-Vienna: the train splits into two parts (first half couples with ÖBB Rome-Vienna and leaves for Vienna or Rome; second half continues to Munich or Milan). Vienna-Rome splits into two trains (first half continues to Rome or Vienna; second half couples with the train for Milan or Munich).

Cross-border

After the opening of Gotthard Base Tunnel in December 2016, train services between Milan and Switzerland increased in frequency. All SBB-CFF-FSS Eurocity (operates by Trenitalia in Italy) now save 35 minutes of total journey time between Bellinzona and Arth-Goldau. From December 2017, a new cross-border service Milan-Frankfurt (

-DB-SBB Eurocity) via Zürich will be operational. From December 18, 2021, a new service Paris-Milan with Frecciarossa is opened. * Regional train (Trenord TiLo Regio) Milan-Bellinzona: Milan - Monza - Como (San Giovanni) - Chiasso (CH) - Lugano (CH) - Bellinzona (CH) * Intercity train (

- SBB-CFF-FSS EuroCity) Geneva-Milan/Venice: Geneva/Genf (CH) - Lausanne (CH) - Brig (CH) - Domodossola - Milan - (Brescia) - (Verona) - (Padua) - (Venice) * Intercity train (

- SBB-CFF-FSS EuroCity) Basel-Milan: Basel SBB (CH) - Bern/Berne (CH) - Thun (CH) - Brig (CH) - Domodossola - Stresa - Busto Arsizio - Milan * Intercity train (

- SBB-CFF-FSS EuroCity) Zürich-Milan: Zürich (CH) - Zug (CH) - Arth-Goldau (CH) - Bellinzona (CH) - Lugano (CH) - Chiasso (CH) - Como (San Giovanni) - Monza - Milan * Intercity train (

- SBB-CFF-FSS EuroCity) Luzern-Milan: Luzern (CH) - Arth-Goldau (CH) - Bellinzona (CH) - Lugano (CH) - Chiasso (CH) - Como (San Giovanni) - Monza - Milan The station is the terminus of the Milan–Paris Frecciarossa, which was inaugurated on 18 December 2021.

Platforms

The station, along with Roma Termini and Firenze Santa Maria Novella, has security gates, normally free flowing, though supervised by agents. Each platform is usually dedicated to some particular route. The current organization is as follows, although temporary changes may occur. * Platforms 1-3: Chiasso/

/ Milan-Turin (AV FR), Milan-Malpensa airport train * Platforms 4-6:

/ Milan–

– Arth Goldau–

* Platforms 7-13:

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

* Platforms 14-17:

–

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

–

* Platforms 18-23:

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; , ; ; ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located west of Genoa, and from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia river, w ...

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

/ Milan-

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

* Platform 24: Operations

Unusual track layout

On the northern side of the railway yard, there used to be a loop curve so that trains could turn around and reverse back into the station. The trains could so be displaced from the left side of the station to the right side and vice versa without crossing all the tracks. The tracks on the loop curve are now partially broken up.Can easily be seen on Google Earth and most old maps

Images

File:Milano-stazione01.jpg File:DSC02044 Uscita Stazione centrale di Milano - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto 1-1-2007.jpg File:MilanoCentrale roof.jpg File:Milano Centrale railway station.jpg

References

External links

Official website at Grandistazioni website
* Illustrated contemporary description of the station {{DEFAULTSORT:Milano Centrale Railway Station Art Nouveau architecture in Milan Art Nouveau railway stations Centrale Railway stations in Italy opened in 1931 Railway stations in Italy opened in 1864