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Virtual museum

Bovisa - Asso

With work for the construction of the Milan - Saronno Railway about to begin, Vaucamps presented a second project by A. Campiglio for approval by the Ministry of Public Works. It concerned the construction of another railway between Milan and Erba-Incino, branching off from the Milan-Saronno line under construction close to the Bovisa stop. The project also included a branch line that would detach from the main line at the S. Pietro Martire station, and would reach the station of Camnago, situated on the SFAI (Società per le Ferrovie dell’Alta Italia) line to Como. The concession agreement for the line to Erba was entered into on 18 May 1877, and the legislative act ratifying its approval was signed by Victor Emmanuel II on 5 June 1882.

At the very end of the year on 31 December 1879, the second line under construction, the Milan-Erba line, was completed. It was opened in 6 progressive sections between 16 July and 31 December: it generated the same public displays of jubilation as for the opening of the first line, but the heavy snow that had fallen in the previous days added a particularly picturesque touch to the maiden voyage.

The line still crosses one of the most beautiful and characteristic areas of Lombardy, a Manzoni-esque landscape which in many ways is unlike any other, and was a popular destination for crowds of Sunday and seasonal tourists until the advance of private motoring diverted them elsewhere.
On 8 June of the following year, the S. Pietro-Camnago branch line opened to traffic.


The Milan-Erba line and the Camnago branch line were opened ahead of schedule and ahead of the deadline set by the work specifications, which set completion within 3 years of the start of work in April 1879. It would be almost half a century before a new section of line would be built by the FNM in 1922, an extension to Asso of the Milan-Erba line just 8 km long.

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Railway line