milan's central railway station is the second-largest station in italy and one of the main
railway 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.
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.
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.
