Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Stazione Centrale di Milano


Stazione Centrale di Milano
Originally uploaded by Doc Tony
Milan Central Station (in Italian, Stazione Centrale di Milano or Milano Centrale) is one of the main European railway stations. It is a railway terminus officially inaugurated in 1931 to replace the old (1864) central station, which was a transit station and could not handle the new traffic caused by the opening of the Sempione tunnel (1906).

It has been characterized by Frank Lloyd Wright as one of the most beautiful stations in the world, together with New York's Grand Central Terminal.

On September 25, 2006, officials announced a €100 million project, already in progress, to refurbish the station. Of the total cost, €20 million has been allocated to restore "certain areas of high artistic value" while the remaining €80 million will be used for more general improvements to the station to make it more functional with the current railway services. The project includes moving the ticket office and installing new elevators and escalators for increased accessibility.

A lot of restoration was ongoing during our visit, not to mention the number of billboards hanging, so it was really quite difficult to capture it in its original state.

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