King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy laid the cornerstone of the new station on April 28, 1906, before a blueprint for the station had even been chosen. The last, real, contest for its construction was won in 1912 by architect Ulisse Stacchini, whose design was modeled after Union Station in Washington, DC, and the construction of the new station began. Due to the Italian economic crisis during World War I, construction proceeded very slowly, and the project, rather simple at the beginning, kept changing and became more and more complex and majestic. This happened especially when Benito Mussolini became Prime Minister, and wanted the station to represent the power of the fascist regime. The major changes were the new platform types and the introduction of the great steel canopies by Alberto Fava; 341 m (1,119 ft) long and covering an area of 66,500 square metres. Construction resumed in earnest in 1925 and on July 1, 1931 the station was officially opened in the presence of Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano. Its façade is 200 metres wide and its vault is 72 metres 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 and Art Deco, 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.” [2] On September 25, 2006, officials announced a €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.[3] Train services[edit] 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 Bern, Lugano, Geneva, Zürich, Paris, Vienna, Barcelona and Munich.[4] The station is also connected to Milan-Malpensa Airport through the Malpensa Express train service.

Comments

1. Ｉ've just came back from traveling in Milan. This video brings back memories. Thank you for sharing！
2. beautiful Trainstation...great Video!
3. This is amazing station. I am planning to visit Milan soon so I am looking forward :-)
4. I am living 25 years in the ugliest continents on the Earth -Australia ,north America and Africa (South Africa ) on the grounds of my highly -paid work there ,but I dearly long ,yearn so strongly for the coming of the day when I shall live in Europe and ,above all ,in Italy until the end of my life.Europe is a matchless continent ,both as landscape and as townscape .Europe must not be shattered by the bombs of the North Americans ,Iranians ,Arabs ,Pakistans ,Russians ,Turks and so on sundry world's knaves who want to wape this so classicaly pretty Europe out the face of the Earth...
5. Gorgeous station. Will be passing through in June. Hope I have enough time to take a look around.
6. where is this
   
   I am from india
7. Stazione bellissima meglio di quella romana sembra in stile russo fuori sembra essere new York
8. Tutti in terroni adesso sono a Milano.Che shiffo.
9. Great footage of the station! I was in Milan few weeks back and I must say it was such an amazing station that I was very much blown away :-)
10. MILANO? DIE WELTSTADT!!!
11. i must say, after visiting the station, neither the shopping floor nor the glass wall at the platform does the station justice
12. Excelente
13. Congratulazioni per questo video che ci mostra molto bene la vita della stazione.
14. Is it true that their are thieves at the train station? I will be going in July. Will need to use train in my travel.
15. I wonder why Italy and Germany have a CENTRAL Station System. In France and the UK there are NO CENTRAL train stations... realy strange!
16. One of my favourite buildings in Milan.
17. Looks very pretty and elegant..
18. great video grazie!!
19. Bel video che mostra ogni particolare di questa stazione. :3
20. Great Video!Well done!!!