Final inspections in Piazza San Babila for the inauguration of the new section of line 4 of the metro when the countdown is now less than 5 days before the ribbon cutting. In addition to Mayor Beppe Sala, there will be the Minister of Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini. The two will travel the entire new section that from Linate leads to San Babila passing through the stops of Repetti, Forlanini, Argonne, Susa, Dateo (already in operation), Tricolore. The hours of the service also change. During the week, from Monday to Thursday, it goes on until 10pm (now it closes at 9pm) while on Friday, Saturday and Sunday the hands move to half past midnight.
At the same time, the ATM is reorganizing surface journeys along the M4 route with the aim of avoiding overlapping with the new metro. Since Wednesday, 13 lines have been involved in route changes and additional journeys to guarantee connections between the different areas of the city and the connection between surface stops and the underground network. Three new lines are born: the NM4 night bus which replaces the subway from Linate to the city center in the evening, the 85 bus which connects Piazza Napoli with Cadorna and San Babila to replace a stretch that was covered by line 61 and the festive 903 in service between the towns of San Donato, Peschiera Borromeo and Segrate. The 88 bus will be upgraded with new alternate routes for via dell’Aviazione and for Linate town, creating a new connection with the Monzino hospital.
The routes of some lines will be extended: bus 34 in the Fatima district continues running from via Chopin to via Amidani; line 54 from the new terminus of Dateo M4 continues beyond Lambrate up to Cascina Gobba M2 replacing line 75; bus 60 extends from Largo Augusto to Piazza Diaz/Duomo M1-M3. Furthermore, the 901 line extends the route from Peschiera Borromeo creating a new connection with Dateo M4 as well as San Donato M3, integrated by a new route of the 902 line. Buses 38, 45, 61, 66, 77 and 84 change their routes avoiding the overlaps with the M4 and the other surface lines. The current line 73 remains in service only between Linate Airport and San Felicino, where it takes the new name of 973.
However, there are those who turn up their noses at this work of “optimization”: “The suppression of 73 causes enormous inconvenience to citizens, especially the weakest – say the councilor of FdI, Francesco Rocca and the group leader of the League in unison , Alessandro Verri -. The stops of the current line 73 are also one kilometer away from the stops of the new M4 subway, an impossible route for the elderly and the disabled”.
Mayor Beppe Sala also spoke about the metro. On the one hand he says he is ready to negotiate the number of new taxi licenses with the Region, but on the other he excludes the possibility of extending the metro timetable as requested by the white cars. A test has already been done in the past – it was Moratti – and “it was extremely disappointing in the sense that the numbers are very low and therefore in terms of cost-benefit it doesn’t fit”.