Como Lago
Como Lago station opened on 5 July 1885, as the terminus of the former Como-Varese-Laveno railway. In 1898, when the Saronno-Grandate railway opened, replacing the old Como-Fino-Saronno tramway, it became the terminus station for the Como-Saronno-Milano Cadorna route.
Its passenger building, featuring the same architecture as that of the other terminus, Laveno, does not enjoy particular prominence: from the beginning, the main hub of travel – whether departures or arrivals – has always been the lake front. The general image of the access area brings to mind its iron canopy: this was, however, a later addition. Originally, the tracks were uncovered and continued, intersecting in a single track which continued for a few dozen metres until it reached the lake area, with its long decommissioned and now forgotten goods yard.
Today, the facility has four tracks plus one service track, all that remains of the two original tracks which ended under cover in the locomotive depot. This was built to house the steam-powered trains which were necessary until 1937, when the line was fully electrified, and was later demolished.
Thanks to the forward-thinking decision to have the line pass through the city’s urban fabric, two of the city’s most iconic and evocative locations are nearby.
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Main dates
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1900 - The passenger building
Piazza Umberto I (now Piazza Matteotti): behind the horses and carts, the passenger building can be seen, with its traditional architecture, when the track still reached as far as the pier on the lake and the canopy had not yet been built.
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1910 - The early 1900s
The passenger building on a postcard from the 1910s
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1950 - Aerial view
Aerial view of Como Lago station, early 1950s. Note the traditional placement on the bend and the canopies above the platforms.
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1950 - The Liberty canopy
The Liberty-style canopy in iron and glass on the arrivals side, in the early 1950s: the canopy, facing the lakefront, draws the eye of the observer, overshadowing the façade of the station, positioned parallel to the tracks.
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1970 - The façade
The front façade of the station in an archive photo
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1973 - Replacing the tracks
Como Lago: scheduled work to replace the station tracks and a view of the depot for the FNM Como-Varese express
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2021 - The station today
Como Lago station as it is today
Gallery
The beautifully scenic juxtaposition of railway and lake 
Plan of the rail yard at Como Lago station in the 1940s: the lake track and turntable, now no longer in existence, are clearly visible 
The cover of issue 7 from July 1935, featuring the recently renovated and reopened Como-Brunate funicular 
Como cathedral and a train passing by it, on a postcard from the early 1900s: the route has not changed since then and the cathedral can still be admired from the train as it pulls into the station. 
Cover of the second issue of Nord Milano magazine, in its first year of publication (1929), featuring the station at Como Lago. 
A trip to... Brunate: accessible via a funicular, whose departure station is on the lake front on the right of the station, Brunate is a small village above Como. It is located at an altitude of about 700 m above sea level, and offers wonderful panoramic views over the lake. It is also possible to visit the lighthouse dedicated to renowned Como scientist Alessandro Volta.