My Trip In Italy (Part 1G): Milan - Trams & Trains

When I first arrived in Milan and was on my way to the hotel, I couldn’t help but notice the maze of train tracks weaving through the streets and intersections. Yet, since I didn’t see a single tram or train, I concluded that they must have been decommissioned and gave it little thought.

Later, after unpacking my stuff at the hotel, I caught sight of an old orange tram disappearing around the corner outside my window. To my surprise, the system was still very much alive - these trams still served a vital role in Milan’s public transportation network.

Throughout the days I was in Milan, I found myself riding the trams multiple times per day. My journey in the city concluded with a rail departure from Milan’s central station, which brought its own set of experiences. Reflecting on these moments, I want to share my impressions of two often-overlooked aspects of the city: Milan’s tram network and Stazione di Milano Centrale.

Milanese Tram Culture

Just like any other major city, Milan has diverse bus and subway networks that offer convenient public transportation. However, it’s also one of the few European cities to have maintained and even expanded its tramway network, which is operated by Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM), the city’s municipal public transport company.

Personally, I believe describing the Milanese tram system as ‘old’ would be an understatement - it started all the way back in 1876 with horse-drawn trams (for perspective, Thomas Edison invented a practical, long-lasting incandescent light bulb in 1879), and later transitioned to electric trams. The Milanese tram network itself is absolutely massive, spanning 115 kilometers across 17 urban lines, making it the largest in Italy.

What amazed me the most was the tram cars themselves, a diverse fleet made up of everything from vintage wooden ‘Carrelli’ trams to modern, redesigned streetcars. However, the most iconic among them has to be the ATM Class 1500 (also known as type 1928), which was a series of tram vehicles built between 1927 and 1930. These singular-cabin trams have two long benches on the interior, allowing them to carry almost 30 people sitting and roughly 100 people standing, a surprisingly large amount considering they only measure 13.89 meters long and 2.48 meters wide (that is slightly wider than an Olympic fencing piste, which is 14 meters long by 1.5 to 2 meters wide). Approximately 500 of these trams were produced, with more than 130 still operating throughout Milan today, repainted into the original white and yellow livery color scheme used on the prototypes.

The fact that these almost century-old tram cars still operate flawlessly - carrying both tourists and locals across the city at speeds comparable to modern transport - is something I still find hard to wrap my mind around.

Throughout my stay in Milan, I mainly got around using the Tram 1 line, which was just around the block from my hotel. This is one of the oldest operating lines in the system, and all of its trams are the Class 1500 I mentioned earlier. Running all the way from Certosa FS to Milan Central, it passes by landmarks such as the Arch of Peace (see Part 1E). And since the tramway network covered basically every street and corner of central Milan, I could get around very conveniently without breaking a sweat.

Besides the convenience and speed of traveling around Milan by tram, another advantage is its straightforward ticketing process. Tickets can be purchased at machines in stations, at some newsstands, or via mobile apps. Once you have your ticket, you validate it on your first trip. Within a 90-minute period after validation, you can change trams an unlimited number of times for the price of a single ticket of 2.2 Euros, meaning you only need to buy one ticket for most journeys. This pricing scheme can be seen not only in Milan, but in other cities I visited in Italy as well.

I was frankly taken aback when I realized how much this system relied on individual integrity. Indeed, you were expected to pay for your ticket. However, there were virtually no cameras or people to check whether you actually did that, and the tram operators didn’t bat an eye either. This was something I definitely didn’t anticipate, as I was accustomed to the driver at least overseeing ticket payment. But despite of this lack of supervision, everyone still abide by the rules, and tap their cards nonetheless. It’s just one of countless examples in Italy where social trust is the sole mechanism keeping things running.

Stazione di Milano Centrale

Although train stations definitely aren’t novel or unique to Milan, the design, size, and layout of its main station are definitely worth seeing. A large terminus with 24 individual platforms, Milan Central is a major hub for railway transport, both domestic and abroad, that was officially inaugurated in 1931 to replace the old station built in 1864. The main facade of the station is an impressive 200 meters wide, with the central vault reaching a height of more than 70 meters. For people who love shopping, the station also houses a reasonably sized shopping mall, the Galleria delle Carrozze. This grand hall is covered in bas-relief sculptures and mosaics depicting mythological figures and Italian cityscapes, further cementing the description that Milan Central is a treasure hunt of elaborate artwork.

When I stepped foot into the main departure hall, I finally understood why it was considered such a marvelous feat of engineering and was Europe’s largest train station by volume. I looked up to see the exceptionally large steel and glass canopy spanning the 24 platforms, with a central arch stretching 72 meters long!

Besides the hall, the trains themselves were also part of the spectacle. Decorated in various different colors such as green, white, and red, these powerful machines were a visible testament to the beautifully-balanced Milanese railway system where modern efficiency of high-speed trains complement historical art and culture.

Speaking about the trains, another thing I noticed was the unique layout of the tracks in Milan Central. Most train stations I’ve been to utilize a cross-through track layout, where the tracks extend beyond the station in both directions. However, Milan Central relies on a dead-end track layout, meaning trains exit from the direction they entered. At first, I was dumbfounded by this design, as I had never seen something like this even at major terminus and railway hubs such as China’s Beijing South Station. Upon further investigation, I discovered that the reason why Milan Central used the dead-end layout was far more complicated.

Firstly is the technical and practical aspect. When Milan Central was built, the city was already densely populated by both people and buildings. If a cross-through track layout were to be used here, space would become a major issue, as lots of land would have to be cleared for the outgoing tracks. The cost-efficiency of such a project would have been greatly lowered, and it would also be quite undesirable to have ugly train tracks plowing through Milan’s city center.

Secondly is the architectural perspective. Built during the regime of Fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Milan Central also served the symbolic purpose of showing the might and power of the Fascist regime. The layout of the station greatly enhances this symbolism; You walk in from its impressive facade, and you’re greeted by its grandiose design elements, such as the astounding length and height of the departure hall, as well as the modern industrial feel of the steel beams overhead.

Although the dead-end track layout definitely achieved the goals above, it poised significant challenges when it came to operational efficiency, considering it was built during the era of early steam locomotives. These stations typically needed complex shunting maneuvers, which included detaching carriages, reattaching carriages, usage of turntables, usage of parallel tracks, etc, to enable normal operation. However, shunting wasn’t the best option when it came to dealing with large traffic flows like those Milan Central was poised to handle. To tackle this problem, the designers used a rather unusual approach - they made a giant track loop. Trains would travel around this loop, reversing the direction they originally came from, which allowed them to travel out of the station facing forwards. Although this loop has since been deactivated and partially disassembled after push-pull electric trains became mainstream, I still respect the problem-solving spirit of these engineers in the face of such problems.

Conclusion

Leaving Milan by train drew a great conclusion to so many wonderful experiences. In the next article, I’ll be sharing my overall impression of Milan as well as essential parts of Milanese culture tied to people instead of landmarks and architecture, including cuisine, nightlife, high fashion, quality craftsmanship, and more.

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