MILANO | Public Transport

[GENIUS LOCI]

A video on the suburban rail line S9.

Quite old video, a branch where the line runs on Southern railways ring between Porta Romana railway station and Romolo (interchange with M2).
In the future a third station is forecast on this stretch (named Tibaldi)


by fra74mil

I think the author actually is the Italian forumer fra74

[GENIUS LOCI]

An 'art gallery' in a corridor of Duomo metro station sponsored by easyjet


by EasyJetItalia

[GENIUS LOCI]

Comasina station, M3 terminus


by Mat3275700

[Suburbanist]

They should adopt driverless operation on line 3 and fit it with PSDs.

[LtBk]

How would you guys rank Milan's mass transit based on 0-10 score?

[Suburbanist]

Originally Posted by LtBk

How would you guys rank Milan's mass transit based on 0-10 score?

6.

Major problems in my opinion, in no particular order:
- fare is too low, draining city budget to cover 84% of its operational expenses. It should be tripled overnight, for a starter. € 30 for unlimited ride on the system is outrageous, a burden on those who don't use the system and a form of extracting tax money for rich inhabitants to pay for yet another social program.
- old trams might look "charming", but they are HELL to ride, noisy, hot/cold, totally uncomfortable. Sirio trams should be used to replace all old crappy trains on lines 29 and 30, to begin with.
- the disposition of overground lines make the system unreliable, God forbid the milanesi making connections or using different vehicles to complete the journey, despite the integrated fare (therefore the city refuses to take away bus/tram lines from city center or lines running in similar alignments of subway lines)
- most buses are filthy, cleaning standards are low
- in some specific cases, reserved lanes for buses put a burden on car traffic and should be scrapped altogether, buses diverted to other roads where they don't interfere with cars and scooters
- there are not sufficient conductors to check payment on nights and weekends, and many, particularly rowdy teenagers, end up riding without payment, disrupting the environment and even drinking on board.

[GENIUS LOCI]

I would say 7/8

The major problem IMO is the difference between Milan and suburbs.
I think to use PT within Milan's municipality border it's easy and you can go everywhere. Obviously I think metro and tram web need a completion (the second one more than a completion a renovation in many points which are in share with cars, due to the time when the tracks where built)

Problems are with the metro area.
Not only for the lack of infrastructures, but mostly for the lack of integration: there is a large number of transport authority operating around Milan, and it's quite messy in term of reliability and usability.

A transportation authority for the metro area (and a metro area figure itself) is needed to make everything more integrated; just one company for bus, metro, trains and so on in the whole MA. Like RATP in Paris, for istance

[GENIUS LOCI]

by MyMetropolitano

[LtBk]

Originally Posted by GENIUS LOCI

I would say 7/8

The major problem IMO is the difference between Milan and suburbs.
I think to use PT within Milan's municipality border it's easy and you can go everywhere. Obviously I think metro and tram web need a completion (the second one more than a completion a renovation in many points which are in share with cars, due to the time when the tracks where built)

Problems are with the metro area.
Not only for the lack of infrastructures, but mostly for the lack of integration: there is a large number of transport authority operating around Milan, and it's quite messy in term of reliability and usability.

A transportation authority for the metro area (and a metro area figure itself) is needed to make everything more integrated; just one company for bus, metro, trains and so on in the whole MA. Like RATP in Paris, for istance

Any plans for a regional authority?

[joga]

Originally Posted by LtBk

How would you guys rank Milan's mass transit based on 0-10 score?

City of Milan. Day: 7. Night: 4

Metropolitan area. Day: 5. Night: 0.

[LtBk]

Night, as in evening or late night? Also, how would you compare Milan's public transportation to other European cities of similar populations?

[Suburbanist]

Originally Posted by LtBk

Night, as in evening or late night? Also, how would you compare Milan's public transportation to other European cities of similar populations?

Milan's transit network becomes sluggish and unreliable after 9pm. Trams and buses will just ignore schedule, subways will have intervals as high as 20 min. There is no late-night service AFAIK.

[thun]

Actually it is quite good. The most annoying problems are huge metro intervalls in the evening and the inexistence of a night bus service (which in fact is a joke for a city of 1.3 million or so).

[GENIUS LOCI]

The new administration just announced to start with night service by September (in the week end. I hope forecasting an extension to the other days of the week)

[GENIUS LOCI]

Some pic of M2 viaduct around Cologno Sud and Cologno Centro stations I took 6 years ago or so























http://msrmilano.forumfree.it/?t=4700257


In the whole metro web just M2 got surface and viaduct stretches: from Cimiano to Gessate/Cologno Nord and the new branch from Famagosta to Milanofiori Forum.
Even M4 and M5 projects are completely underground

[Suburbanist]

Milano soil is quite good for excavations, I think. And it is sit around the area less affected by earthquakes in the country, making construction cheaper.

[GENIUS LOCI]

I don't think that this is the reason (then there are easier soils to dig than Milan's, then to build tunnels has nothing to do with earthquakes otherwise in Italy wouldn't be any or so; at contrary it's probably the country with the largest amount of tunnels)

No, the reason is someway 'historical' (of Milan's transportation history).
Infact the first 'overground' track is the one between Cimiano and Gorgonzola (almost) on the old track of the suburban tram of Tranvie dell'Adda (once Milan had dozens of suburban tram lines to connect the region, unfortunately dismissed - just two are still in use - mostly in '50s and '60s in favour of bus lines)-
In that route the tram started from Piazzale Sire Raul (just out of Leoncavallo depot), run aside viale Palmanova, as the metro does nowaday, and then aside Padana Superiore, a suburban road, once far less inhurbated than today, till Vaprio d'Adda, on Adda river, about 40km far from Milan city center-

During the construction of M2 in '60s, while they were digging the tunnel in Milan city center they decided to 'renew' that branch of Tranvie dell'Adda, thinking to use it for the metro once the tunnel would have reached Cimiano-
The route is different from the original one, some hundred meters North, and with viaducts, trenches and not grade intersections.
The trams run over this infrastructure for a while, till M2 tunnel reached viale Palmanova (end of '60s, begin of '70s) when it had been used by metro till Gorgonzola.
At the begginning Gorgonzola was used as interchange station between metro and trams (infact the station has four tracks) as the tram service among Gorgonzola and Vaprio d'Adda (on the historical track aside the suburban road) was mantained.
And the trams used the same depot used by the metro trains in Gorgonzola.

After few years the tram was dismissed and in '80s metro was extended till Gessate.

Always in '80s they built even Cologno branch (in viaduct as you can see)
In Cologno run another branch of tranvie dell'Adda (bit apart from metro rout in this case too).
This branch run till Vimercate, about 30km far from Milan city center (an extension project forecasts M2 to reach Vimercate as well), and once M2 entered service even on that route Tranvie dell'Adda tram didn't exist anymore.

-----
About Assago branch (in service since February), to build it above ground aside the highway route was the most logical and cheaper way

[GENIUS LOCI]

Here some pics and maps about Tranvie dell'Adda

-Here Sire Raul terminus when just Vimercate branch was still in service



-A tram in Gorgonzola station


source Giovanni Cornolò, Fuori Porta in Tram, Ermanno Alberto Editore

-The Tranvie Celeri dell'Adda (Tram Expressway) enter service






source: Francesco Ogliari, Dall'Omnibus alla Metropolitana, Cavallotti Editori - Milano

http://forum.milanotrasporti.org/vie...=164&start=375

-The old and the new route




I add this map of suburban tramways in '50s



In Eastern part you can see the Tranvie dell'Adda branch (there is a mistake, it's not Vapiro but Vaprio) and it indicates even the new 'express tramway' (opened in '68) now used by the metro

[GENIUS LOCI]

Originally Posted by GENIUS LOCI

once Milan had dozens of suburban tram lines to connect the region, unfortunately dismissed - just two are still in use - mostly in '50s and '60s in favour of bus lines

About the two survived suburban tramlines: they are Milano-Desio and Milano-Limbiate

Unlike Milan urban trams, which are monodirectional vehicles, they are bi-directional vehicles.


Here the route and some pics of Milano-Desio (line 178)













http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ca...3Desio_tramway

Milano-Limbiate (line 179)









http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ca...mbiate_tramway

[GENIUS LOCI]

For both the lines a refurbishment is forecasted with extensions, new rolling stock, redesign of the tracks.

Here the route of the Milano-Desio refurbished and extended to Seregno (interchanging with railways station)



http://87.248.52.211/pub/page/en/MM/...?contentId=986



A pdf with more details http://www.zinnisindaco.it/diario/pr...sso_080407.pdf

Here the project of the refurbishment of Milano-Limbiate







http://87.248.52.211/pub/page/en/MM/...?contentId=989