Milan Malpensa Airport now connected by train to Northern Italy and Switzerland

On 22 January 2026, a new train connection from Milan Malpensa Airport Terminal 2 will officially be opened. This line will connect the airport directly to nearby stations, including Gallarate and Casorate Sempione, and branch off to the Simplon railway line towards Switzerland.

The new railway fills a missing link of about 6 kilometres of double-track electrified line between the airport and the existing train network, located on the Rhine-Alpine Corridor. The journey from Malpensa Terminal 2 to Gallarate Station will take around seven minutes. This connection makes it easier to travel by train from the airport to northern Italy and across the border to Switzerland. The project, called MXP North Rail Access, was supported by the CEF Transport programme with about €64 million in EU funding.

This is the final step of a larger plan started in 2010 by Ferrovienord and SEA to connect Malpensa Airport by train both to Milan and to the north of Italy. The goal of the plan was to make it easier for passengers to switch between planes and trains and to better connect the airport to the national train system, integrating Malpensa airport within the trans-European transport network.

Since 2010, the European Union has provided more than €78 million to support studies and construction for these rail connections from the airport to Northern and Southern Italy.

With the completion of this project, Malpensa Airport is now fully connected to the Italian and European high-speed rail networks. The new line will support both passenger and potential freight trains and improve travel and transport across Europe.

The benefits go beyond the airport itself. The new connection will improve local train services in Lombardy, where millions of people use trains every day. Over time, it will also encourage more people and goods to move from road to rail, helping to reduce traffic and lower greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector.

Background

Since 2010, the European Union has supported the Malpensa Airport rail connection with about €78 million in EU funding. This support was provided through several projects over the years:

• Project 1 (2010–2012):
  • This project prepared the final plans for a new train line between Malpensa Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. The line is about 3.8 km long and includes a new train station at Terminal 2. Works were completed in October 2012.
  • EU funding: €1.3 million.
• Project 2 (2011-2013):
  • This project carried out studies on how to build and manage a train connection between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 with private sector involvement. At that time, Terminal 1 was already connected by train, while Terminal 2 could only be reached by road. The project was completed in October 2013.
  • EU funding: €500 000.
• Project 3 (2012-2015):
  • This project supported the first construction works to connect Malpensa Airport to international train lines to the north. As part of this work, a train connection between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 was built. The project was completed in December 2015.
  • EU funding: €11.4 million.
• Project 4 (2014-2018):
  • This project prepared the detailed plans for a new train connection between Malpensa Airport and the main railway line north of Milan. The goal was to improve links between air travel and trains and to make travel easier across Europe. The project was completed in March 2018.
  • EU funding: €1.6 million.

Last updated: January 2026