Milan-Seregno tramway: work to begin in March

On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, the Metropolitan City of Milan signed a contract with the company C.M.C. Ravenna for the construction of the new Milan-Seregno tramway (with an intermediate stop in Desio).

The first construction site is scheduled to start on March 15, 2023. The signed agreement calls for 38 months of work for a total investment of 131 million euros. The work is expected to be completed by 2025. Definitely a fundamental work for the Milan hinterland, now deprived of its historical interurban tramway lines, after the suppression of the Milan-Limbiate line in September 2022; the suppression of the Milan-Desio line dates back to September 30, 2011, after 130 years of operation. The Milan Seregno Giussano line was in fact inaugurated in 1881, the branch line to Carate Brianza in 1886. As early as 1958, with the advent of private motorization and automobile services, the Seregno-Giussano section was closed, followed by the Desio Carate in 1982 and the Milan-via Valtellina-Niguarda in 1999.

Despite the cancellations, the parties involved have always supported the importance of the line, and today, after much waiting and postponement, the construction sites are ready to start, for the realization of a modern metro-tramway, in line with realities throughout Europe. The last steps, before the agreement, were the approval, on August 2, 2022, by the “Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning and Sustainable Development” (Cipess) of the new project with the resolution of an additional allocation. On November 30, 2022, the “Legality Protocol for the construction of the Milan-Seregno Metrotramway” was signed.

Milan-Seregno tramway, length and stops

The line will be 14,7 km long, from Parco Nord it will pass through Bresso, Cormano, Cusano Milanino, Paderno Dugnano, Nova Milanese, Desio. From Parco Nord to Paderno Dugnano (Calderara), 7.9 km long, the line will be double-track, while the section from Calderara to Seregno FS, 6.4 km long, will be single-track, with doubling at intersections. The public will be provided with 25 new stops, at an average distance of 540 m. Some disused sections of the old tramway will be upgraded, in Viale Roma and Viale Cooperazione in Cusano Milano and in Via Garibaldi in Desio. It is planned to build bicycle paths and green areas.

The infrastructure part will be completely new, with new tracks and overhead line, and the adoption of new signaling technologies. A new interchange parking lot is planned at Paderno Dugnano and a new rolling stock depot at the border between Desio and Seregno.

The new line will help reduce vehicular traffic and air pollution and will integrate into the mobility system of the area north of Milan and central Brianza, with metro line 4, metro line 3, and the rail network operated by Trenord. Interchange with the railway station will be guaranteed in Seregno. At least 18 new two-way streetcars will have to be available for operation.

by Stefano Alfano