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European Railroad Discussion > Milano Lambrate - Italy's Clapham Junction

During our stay in Milan, I discovered the best close-by in-town trainwatching spot was Milano Lambrate station, which seems like the Clapham Junction of Italy because of the level of activity, number of platforms, and the fact that at any moment there can be 3-4 trains moving through the station at the same time.   It's a 12-track station on the Belt Line around the east side of the city. There are large junctions and freight yards on either side of the station, so pretty much all of the freight trains through Milan go through there.    In addition, all the intercity, high speed and regional trains between Milano Centrale and Italy's east or south also come through, as well as loads of suburban trains.  The only trains that don't go through Lambrate are trains going from Centrale west toward Torino or north to Switzerland, or trains that go into Porta Garibaldi station or the S-line trains that use the Milano Passante tunnel through Repubblica.   The best platform is the track 4/5 platform, which extends furthest north, and so has the best view of all the freights going both directions through the station, which are usually on tracks 2, 3 or 4.    Access to Lambrate is easy as several tram lines and a Metro line serve Lambrate, in addition to the suburban trains. 

Our month in Milan was very rainy, but we also discovered that even on sunny days, the air and sky seemed very hazy.  Then we figured it out - Milan has lots of smog!  On some days it reminded me of being a kid in LA in the 1960s, when the sky would be brown everywhere except straight overhead.  

1)  A very clean DB Class 494 comes southbound on a Belt Line freight train on Track 3.  
2)  SBB Class 474 on a northbound container train on Track 2. 
3)  Trenord Class 464 leads a single-level suburban train on what is probably a train to Monza and Saronno.  
 



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/24 07:22 by dwatry.

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4)  Trenitalia Frecciarossa ETR 600 high speed trainset passses through.  
5)  Couple of Trenord Class 464s on suburban trains.  
6)  Trenord Class 506 double-deck EMUs. 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/24 10:54 by dwatry.

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7)  Mercitalia Class 405 on a southbound freight train. 
8)  SBB Class 501 trainset used on the Gotthard Tunnel Line.  I didn't know this equipment went further south than Milano Centrale - but apparently so!
9)  Trenitalia Frecciarossa ETR 500 on a rainy day.  
 

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10)  ATM's Line 19 that runs to the front of the station is mostly run with Peter Witt cars such as this.   These cars date from the mid-late 1920s, so are approaching 100 years old, and still providing lots of service in Milan.  ATM still runs about 150 of these on a variety of lines.  

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