The go-ahead for the upgrade of the Rho-Gallarate railway marks a crucial step along the route linking the Milan hub with the Simplon Pass and the international freight crossing at Luino. The definitive authorisation came with the decision of the Council of State (judgment number 4257 of 19 May 2025), which upheld the appeal filed by RFI against the first-instance ruling of the Lombardy Regional Administrative Court (judgment number 3488 of 25 October 2024). The highest administrative judges fully sided with RFI, accepting all three grounds of appeal and thereby completely overturning the previous ruling by the Regional Administrative Court.
At the heart of the dispute lies the four-track expansion of the Rho-Parabiago section, which constitutes the first phase in the upgrade of the railway as far as Gallarate. RFI may therefore proceed on the basis of the final project adopted by the special commissioner Vera Fiorani in June 2023, which has already been awarded. The project had been challenged by a civic committee from Rho-Parabiago along with a group of around eighty residents, even if only indirectly affected, due to its alleged environmental impact, not only once completed but also because of the major disruption expected during the construction phase.
The contract, worth over 259 million euros, was awarded at the end of October 2023 and includes the four-track expansion of the initial stretch between Rho and Parabiago, covering approximately nine kilometres, as well as the construction of a connection spur near Busto Arsizio to link with the line towards Malpensa airport. Following a complex process marked by numerous legal challenges which led to a revision of the project, the operation phase has now begun. The project has also been split into two parts, with only the first, the Rho-Parabiago section, having gone to tender, supported in part by funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
In the future, completion of the upgrade along the entire Rho-Gallarate route is planned, but the second phase, between Parabiago and Gallarate, will be subject to a subsequent tender. For this second section, only a third track is planned, as full four-track expansion is unfeasible due to existing urban planning constraints. Only once all works are completed, for which it remains difficult to predict a timeline, will the key railway axis between the Milan hub and the north-western Alpine crossings be able to fully perform its function, allowing for the separation of flows between different types of traffic while also ensuring ample capacity for freight transport.
Piermario Curti Sacchi
