Ministry of Infrastructure and City of Milan Sign Agreement for Metro Lines in MilanDuring a meeting on 31st July, 2007 between minister for infrastructure Antonio Di Pietro, mayor of Milan Letizia Moratti and the presidents of the Milan province and the region of Lombardy, a memorandum of understanding was signed for Line 4 of the metro to Linate, Line 5 to San Siro and the extension of Line 3 to Paullo. More interchange stations between the metro lines have also been decided. Today, there are four interchanges (Duomo, Loreto, Centrale, Cadorna) and six more will be added (Sant'Ambrogio, Crocetta, and San Babila on Line 4 and Zara, Garibaldi, and Lotto on Line 5). The overall cost for these projects amounts to more than EUR2.6 billion.The agreement signed allocates EUR80 million for the first lot of Line 4 from San Cristoforo to Policlinico, finances the design of the second lot to Linate, the design of Line 5 to San Siro and also the design of the extension of Line 3 to Paullo. It is foreseen that this metro expansion will transport more than 90 million passengers. It is estimated that approx. 40 million commuters will travel every year on Line 4, around 36.5 million on Line 5 and about 15 million on the extended Line 3. Line 3 (yellow)The extension of Line 3 will connect San Donato to Paullo, southeast of Milan. There will be seven stations (San Donato Est, Peschiera, Peschiera Est, Pantigliate, Caleppio Cerca, Paullo and Paullo Est). The line will be 13.8 km long.Line 4 (blue)Line 4 is a metro line that connects Linate airport, shaping a semi-circle line in the southern part of the city to reach Policlinico, one of the major hospitals in Lombardy, intersecting with two other metro lines and heading southwest to Corsico. The total length of the line is nearly 15 kilometres.Construction of the new line 4, from Lorenteggio-San Cristoforo to Linate airport, will be divided in two lots: San Cristoforo-Sforza Policlinico (lot 1) and Sforza Policlinico-Linate airport (lot 2). The line is characterised by a design for automated and driverless light trains. So is Line 5. This will allow increased service frequency and faster running times. The 60 m-long stations will be equipped with platform screen doors to ensure optimal safety for passengers as they open only once the trainset has stopped in the station. The CIPE - interministerial committee for economic planning - held a meeting on 30th August, 2007 and allocated EUR80 million for the preliminary studies of Line 4, for the stretch from San Cristoforo to Policlinico. Section San Cristoforo-Sforza PoliclinicoThe first section to be constructed will stretch for 7.7 km and will serve 13 stations in all (San Cristoforo, Segneri, Gelsomini, Frattini, Tolstoj, Bolivar, Foppa, Parco Solari, Sant'Ambrogio, De Amicis, Vetra, Santa Sofia, Sforza Policlinico). It starts from San Cristoforo, in Giambellino district, where it intersects with suburban line S9 and runs underground under Lorenteggio Street to reach Frattini Square and Bolivar Square. It passes nearby Solari Park and intersects with Line 2 (green) in Sant'Ambrogio, serving the Catholic university. Then the path continues along De Amicis Street running through the Porta Ticinese area. This is where the stops that will provide service to the State university will be located. The first lots end at Sforza Policlinico. This station will be built at about 300 metres from Crocetta station on Line 3, which means that long pedestrian connecting tunnels will be necessary, probably equipped with travelators. Planned routes of Line 4 (blue) and Line 5 (pink) of Milan metro Section Sforza Policlinico-Linate AirportThe second section between Policlinico and Linate will be around 7 km long with eight stations (Sforza-Sormani, Visconti di Modrone, Tricolore, Dateo, Susa, Argonne, Forlanini, Linate Airport). Stops are envisaged at the Sormani library and in Visconti di Modrone Street where a connection with Line 1 (red) will be provided. There will be another interchange station in Dateo Square where the line will join the cross city railway tunnel and the suburban lines operated by Ferrovie Nord Milano and the Italian railways. Then via Susa Square and Argonne Boulevard, the line will travel along Forlanini Boulevard to reach Linate Airport.Linea 5 (pink)Line 5 is a L-shaped line open to the left. The corner of the L is Garibaldi station. Line 5 serves Monza, running along Zara Boulevard and Fulvio Testi to connect the new Monza-Brianza province. Its extension to west (horizontal leg of the L) forms an arc north of the city that will connect the new districts like City Life and, through San Siro, Settimo Milanese and the vast area reserved for the Expo 2015. In spring 2008, the host city for the Expo 2015 will be announced. Milan and Izmir in Turkey are the two candidates.The city council approved on 12th July the west extension of Line 5, between Garibaldi and San Siro. The addition of this west extension to the initial project Garibaldi-Bignami will lengthen the line to the west from Garibaldi, a transportation hub, which will enable passengers to continue their journey without returning to the surface to shift trains. This alteration to the scheme prompted fear it would cause delays to start construction but the fear vanished. Construction of Line 5 and its western extension form part of a major urban scheme, which starts with the redevelopment of two major areas, Garibaldi-Repubblica and Fiera. The line will provide an excellent transport service to the west of Milan, including the monumental cemetery, the area of the City Life project, Portello and San Siro stadium.Section Garibaldi-BignamiThe new line will link Garibaldi to Bignami. This is a 5.6 km stretch with nine stations (Garibaldi, Isola, Zara, Marche, Istria, Ca' Granda, Bicocca, Ponale, Bignami). The line will meet the Italian railways, the cross city railway tunnel and Line 2 at a transit hub at Garibaldi station and Line 3 in Zara. The CIPE gave on 20th July the go-ahead to that section.The total cost for the first section is EUR557 million, to be financed by a public-private partnership: EUR257 million on the state budget, EUR231 million by the private companies who will operate the line for 31 years and the remainder by the city.The first preparatory work on the Zara-Bignami section commenced on 16th July and will last until October. To keep traffic moving, two lanes will be kept open in each direction on the Zara-Testi artery. The first section from Bignami to Zara will be completed in February 2011. To arrive to Garibaldi, another 14 months will be needed.Section Garibaldi-Axum San SiroThe western extension from Garibaldi to Axum San Siro is 6.3 km long with 11 stations (Garibaldi, Monumentale, Cenisio, Gerusalemme, Domodossola, Tre Torri, Portello, Lotto, Segesta, Esquilino, San Siro). The final approval of this extension requires one more year of work. The funds allocated to the extension amount to EUR59,843,000, whereof EUR15,250,000 financed by the city of Milan and EUR45,980,000 by the concessionaire Metro 5 SpA whose partners are Astaldi, Ansaldo Trasporti Sistemi Ferroviari, Alstom Ferroviaria, Azienda Trasporti Milanesi (ATM) and Torno Internazionale. The overal cost is EUR563 million.Other projectsAfter the summer, other agreements on priority projects will follow, such as the segregation of the Line 1 leg to Rho-Fiera into a new independent line (Line 6) from Pagano station to improve the accessibility to the site reserved in the area near Rho-Fiera station for the Expo 2015, the extension of Line 1 from Sesto San Giovanni to Monza Bettola, and the extension of Line 2 from Cologno North to Agrate and Vimercate.The agreement reached by the signatories is therefore a compromise between the demands of the city, who had asked to extend the paths of the planned lines 4 and 5, respectively to Linate Airport and San Siro stadium, and the province and region, who requested to extend the metro network to the hinterland. Read E-News Weekly 4/2003 & 6/2002. Click here and it/16. 36/07.FinancingThe price tag for all these projects reaches EUR3,155 million, of which EUR510 million has already been secured and EUR2,645 million is still to be covered. In detail, Lot 1 of Line 4 costs EUR790 million and EUR510 million has already been found. Within the remaining EUR280 million, EUR80 million have just been approved by the CIPE. Lot 2 of Line 4, however, remains to be completely financed (EUR910 million), as well as the Garibaldi-San Siro section on Line 5 (EUR657 million) and the extension of Line 3 from San Donato to Paullo (EUR798 million). 36/07.