Milan, Sala on the M4 from Linate to San Babila: «A dream come true». And relaunches the M6 ​​project

“This is a dream come true”: with these words begins the ribbon-cutting in piazza San Babila of the new M4 station, which together with Tricolore stretch the Blue line by another two stops, shortening the distance between Linate airport and the city center to just 12 minutes underground journeys. Mayor Beppe Sala with the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini and the managing director of Webuild, Pietro Salini, inaugurated this morning the new Blu stop in a “rehabilitated” and completely pedestrian square.

Sala: “The Milanese have invested in patience”

«Connecting the airport of our city with the heart of the city, the “centre-centre”, today is something that seems obvious, but for years it was not so obvious, nor was staying in Linate. In less than a quarter of an hour you can get from Linate to here and vice versa» continued Hall. Who stressed how subways have “two difficulties to build: long times and very expensive, but once you have them, you transform the city. And at least this is something that all Milanese agree on. The M4, despite the name, is the fifth line of the Milanese metro, which the city has been talking about for twenty years (the project dates from 2005), and which was to be inaugurated in 2015. «The Milanese invest in the metro: the first line in 1964 was also made thanks to a loan from the citizens». In this case, with the M4, “they invested in patience and seriousnessbecause they have been long jobs and have been affected by the Covid, the increase in costs and the discovery of archaeological finds. However, this should convince us to go ahead.», stressed the mayor.

Next target: the M6

So the point in the metro system as a whole, as of the completion of the Blue Line, which will see the other 13 stops open to San Cristoforo together at the end of 2024 thus uniting the West and East of the city: «When I took office we were at 10% of the work, today in fact we are at 90%, although there is still a year to finish everything. Next year we will open the rest of the line: there are 15 kilometers and 21 stops. The Milanese metro is not finished: I think it will be completed with the last missing metro, the M6». Sala also recalled how the times for the completion of the work were “long” and how this refers to the “role of politics and how politicians should understand their work.” AND addressing Salvini: «You are the sixth Minister of Infrastructure since I took office».

The Milanese and the construction works

questions and answers Minister Salvini takes the floor took the opportunity to recall the stability of the current government: «I count that you will see only one Minister of Infrastructure in the next five years, Beppe…!». Salvini recalled the construction sites currently open throughout the country, but “when you return to Milan it is always a different emotion,” he said. I remember piazza San Babila as it was and I thank the many Milanese who have lived with the works for years.», said Salvini referring to the long works of De Amicis and Lorenteggio above all. Of course, “with an alliance between women and men to do and yes, Italy in the next five years will be able to experience an industrial, infrastructural, environmental, economic and labor revolution like what our parents and grandparents experienced after World War II. Like when they built the Autostrada del Sole: even there there were committees for the no, and even today, wherever I go, I find people nostalgic for the no. But if we sanction that Milan is the homeland of yes, of doing, of planning, we will be doing a great service to the country».

15 thousand workers for the Blue Line

Pietro Salini, CEO of Webuild who led the group of companies that built the infrastructure, recalled how the group has “built more than 800 kilometers of metro around the world”, but as “for a company that is based here in Milan , doing the M4 (after having done all the others, ed), is a special privilege.” A company that has seen “15,000 people participate in the construction of the infrastructure, more than 1,500 at a time.” The M4 does not not only “will change the way you take the plane to Milan and how you get home”, but “it will also change the exterior”, said Salini, referring to the layout of the external spaces of the stops, recalling the interventions carried out at the bus stop. Argonne before and then in San Babila.

M4: so far 700 thousand passengers. 86 million when fully operational

With today’s inauguration, the M4 has eight stops: Linate airport, Repetti, Forlanini station, Argonne, Susa, Dateo, Tricolore and San Babila. At the end of 2024 all the others that go from the center to the east axis of Milan will open at the same time: Sforza Policlinico, Santa Sofia, Vetra, De Amicis, S. Ambrogio, Coni Zugna, California, Bolivar, Tolstoj, Frattini, Gelsomini , Segneri and San Cristóbal. It will be a third and last opening structured in a single lot. Until yesterday, when there were only six stations, “some 700,000 passengers used the line,” says Arrigo Giana, general director of ATM, “but we have a traffic hypothesis of 86 million passengers per year in full operation. Until Dateo, the Blue Line was not connected to the rest of the metro network, as of today it is, so as of today we expect a significant increase in traffic.” The Line «will become a very important artery, a basic mobility element. We know that we have other projects: the extension of the M5, a study on the M6, the extension of the M4 beyond Linate: all these are projects that Milan continues to pursue in a continuous expansion of public transport.

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