By Ashley Karen
The opening of Linate Airport, Repetti, Forlanini Station, Argonne, Susa and Dateo stations was held at the city airport. The Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala, Lombardy President Attilio Fontana, Salini, plus the scores of workers who were involved in the project, participated in the inauguration.
At the opening of these first six stations of the metro line constructed by the Group in the capital of the Lombardy region, Webuild Chief Executive, Pietro Salini stated:
“I am very happy to be in Milan today to deliver to the city’s residents this new metro line: the first part of the M4 and the park that we built along Viale Argonne. This is the result of the expertise and commitment of all the women and men who have worked to create this infrastructure during a particularly difficult moment, what with the increase in raw materials prices, COVID and the war. It is a very important achievement for Webuild, which continues to deliver to clients and their residents’ new sustainable infrastructure of excellent quality.”
With this opening, the 5.4 km journey between the Linate city airport and the Dateo station will take about nine minutes. This first section of the excessively complicated engineering project is remaking the city and strengthening Milan’s position in Europe.
Pietro Salini claimed: “The M4 is a story of Italian excellence. It has been an enormous effort to work both above and below the city contemporaneously, contributing to a redesign of what lies below the surface and what lies above it with projects of urban renewal.”
The M4 is said to be finished by 2024 and will travel the city for 15 km in total, from the Linate city airport in the east, via the historic center, and then to the west to the San Cristoforo train station. It will have 21 stations and take only 30 minutes for its trains to cross the complete route. These stats will make Milan one of the most attainable in Europe via an airport. By next spring, once this section of the line will open to San Babila in the center, it will take a little over 12 minutes from the airport.
The project was authorised by the City of Milan and was constructed by the M4 concessionaire firm which has the responsibility for the design, construction and management of the line. It is worth to mention that Webuild has directed the company’s private investors. The line is fully underground and automated with driverless trains – an innovative technology that enables a safer and more efficient service.
The M4 will cross the historic center of Milan and contribute to a considerable decrease in street traffic. Once it is completely open, it will be able to move over 24,000 people per hour in either direction. On an annual basis, it will have up to 86 million potential passengers, with trains passing every 90 seconds during peak times. Speaking of mobility, the M4 will influence the city, giving it one of the vastest metro networks in Europe at 188 km.
Webuild’s technical know-how was operated during the line’s excavation with TBMs, the safeguarding of the city’s artistic and historic heritage with the temporary transfer of memorials such as the Column of Verziere, the Statue of the Saviour at Largo Augusto and a medieval wall on Via Francesco Sforza. The monuments will be put back to their original place after they have been cleaned and restored under the supervision of the superintendency.
The Webuild Group, a global reference in the sector of sustainable mobility with a track record of over 13,600 km of rail and metro lines, is today concerned with the construction of some of the most complicated projects such as the Grand Paris Express. In Italy, in addition to the M4, it is functioning on Line C of Rome and sections of the Naples metro system.
