Delayed or canceled trains, degraded and unsafe stations. The centre-right majority of Busto Arsizio “calls” the leaders of the sector to the commission (read here) and, presenting i cahiers de sorrowsdoes not worry about being of the same color as the one that governs the Lombardy Region, choosing not to mince words to describe a scenario that commuter committees have been denouncing for some time.
In the end, not all councilors seemed fully satisfied with what they heard. And the mayor Emanuele Antonelli has proposed creating a “direct line” with the administration.
The broadsides of the center-right
The joint session of commissions 1 and 3 opened with the premise of Marco Lanza (Antonelli list): «There is no no attacks or criticisms of this administration or the regional one. But considering that I am also a representative of this centre-right majority and a convinced centre-right voter, I felt it was my duty to address this series of problems”, expecting “punctual, concrete and real answers”. Because “the problems have reached a disarming and serious level”.
These are «delays to and from Milan but also to Varese. They have reached a sort of chronicity, approximately 15-20 minutes daily, with peaks of up to an hour, with cancellations and substitutions. Then in the morning they circulate trains that are old and insufficient for the users of the service. A problem not limited to the city of Busto alone and which has a deleterious impact on the lives of students and commuter workers.”
And he added the critical issues in the two stations: «Problems of hygiene, cleaning and maintenance of the greenery adjacent to the tracks. The infrastructure is in a state of decay and abandonment. And there are concrete safety problemsespecially in the evening hours, when we witnessed episodes of violence, drunkenness, brawls and sometimes even drug dealing.”
Massimo Rogora (Fratelli d’Italia) is also tough and colourful: «I would like you to come here in the morning to see how people travel, standing and piled onto freight wagons. In 2024 it’s embarrassing. AND It’s unfortunate that the Lombardy Region and the companies that work for it are not able to offer a different service. You don’t treat customers like customers, but like chickens. And the security is zero. We asked for turnstiles and cameras, but they were not put in place. We can’t move forward like this.”
Another FdI representative, Luca Folegani, asked for confirmation on the intention to move the Malpensa route from the Ferrovie Nord to the Ferrovie dello Stato (but a decision has not yet been taken on this).
«Twenty years ago I took the train to go to university and then I started to hate them – said Matteo Sabba (Antonelli list) – Almost nothing has changed, only security has worsened, because then there wasn’t this strong degradation. And for public problems there is never a person in charge.”
The answers
Michele Rabino, head of RFI infrastructure development in the North West Area, highlighted that «the Domodossola-Rho section is saturated during rush hours, it is therefore difficult to schedule new trains». Explaining that «important interventions have been implemented that Cuban billion euros» which could bring benefits in terms of capacity and regularity, such as the latest generation virtual radio signaling system with which the line between Rho and Gallarate will be equipped by 2027.
The quadrupling between Rho and Parabiago is then about to start, with the Y junction. Having gone to tender in October, the executive planning is underway with start of work by summer.
The interventions carried out on the RFI station were then listed: redevelopment of the underpass, elimination of architectural barriers, lifts, lighting. “In the last year and a half there have been eight evictions of illegal occupations,” he added.
Again for RFI, Antonella Parodi, head of circulation in the Milan area, admitted that «between the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 the moment is not very easy in terms of punctuality due to major track renewal works which require trains to be slowed down”.
The head of the circulation service of Ferrovie Nord Riva in turn observed that for the line to Saronno and Milan it is difficult to have additional trains and that the delays are in the order of three minutes on average. While the inconveniences linked to investments are growing: the latest sad episode occurred this morning in Garbagnate.
«We are sensitive to the issue of safety – assured Gianluca Tacchi, maintenance manager -. In Busto Nord there are 27 cameras. In 2023 there were 14 reports of vandalism and fights, in April 2024 there were already ten. The phenomenon is increasing and we are thinking about have a permanent security guard on site».
Fabio Filippi, responsible for planning and operational management of Trenord staff, provided some data: «On Busto there are 378 stops per day. It is the second city in Lombardy after Milan and the only one with Como that serves the three main Milanese stations, Cadorna, Garibaldi and Centrale. 9 thousand travelers board the trains at the two stations. The few oldest trains are about fifteen years old; we also inserted the Caravaggios on the Novara Cadorna and the trains to Malpensa were revamped for seats and aesthetics”. The point, he reiterated, is that «the two networks are technically saturated. Works such as those underway in Certosa and near Domodossola lead to delays when entering the Milan hub.”
The reports fully satisfied the majority councillors. «All these investments, often designed in disagreement with the territory as with the Y connection, will they solve the problems? Otherwise someone will have to take responsibility,” Sabba said.
«Let’s sit down and work together on the problems», was Max Rogora’s request, also “shared” by mayor Antonelli, who suggested creating a «direct line with the administration that acts as an intermediary for the critical issues that we see or are reported to us.”
