Without the M4 in Segrate, the north’s largest intermodal hub will remain a dead letter

There was barely time to celebrate the opening of the Cassanese bypass – a 5.5-kilometre stretch linking the Bre.Be.Mi and the Outer Ring Road directly to Milan’s Eastern Ring Road – before a reminder arrived of the standstill surrounding the extension of the M4 to Segrate. Alvise Biffi dampened the enthusiasm by pointing out that while the Cassanese is an important project, the “crucial piece of the Porta Est Hub – one of the most significant infrastructure and urban development projects in our region” – is still missing. Without those two stations linking Linate to Segrate, according to the president of Assolombarda, the investments made by private operators – amounting to around 350 million euros – risk being rendered futile, on top of the 215 million euros in costs already incurred for the acquisition of the land. The overall project “requires a total of 938 million euros in public funds, which will unlock 2.8 billion euros in private investment – almost all of which would be at risk without these two projects. For the region, we estimate a turnover equal to 2.5 times the initial investment and a total impact – direct, indirect and induced – of nearly 3.8 billion euros in added value”.

Some observers note that this stalemate is an intrinsic feature of an infrastructure conceived during the second Albertini administration and subsequently marked by a series of setbacks, resulting in the opening of the first section only in 2022 and the second two years later. The extension of the M4 to Segrate, which was set to be fast-tracked thanks to the 420 million allocated by the Ministry of Infrastructure, came to an abrupt halt in 2025 following the decision (which was supported by Palazzo Marino, the Regional Government and the Ministry, but met with the obvious disapproval of the municipality of Segrate) to divert the funds to the M5 line to Monza, which was deemed more urgent.

The alarm raised by Biffi is justified by the fact that, according to the plans, the Porta dell’Est is the most important intermodal hub in Lombardy and perhaps in the whole of northern Italy; it connects the metropolitan public transport network with the Milan–Venice line and the Malpensa and Orio airport system, and diverts traffic away from the city, taking around 30 million car journeys off the roads each year and reducing congestion and environmental impact. High-speed rail, the motorway network and the metro must converge at Segrate to get this transport hub up and running; the problem is that, at present, there is no funding in place for the 3-kilometre section, nor is there a known timetable. At the opening of the Cassanese road, Salvini said that the ministry is ready to support the commitment alongside local authorities and will do everything possible to secure the funds needed to get the construction sites up and running. These remarks did not go down well with the mayor of Segrate, Francesco Di Chio: “The situation is this: the project is ready but the money isn’t there,” he explains to Il Foglio, “with consequences that go further: there are local projects such as Vastint – an urban regeneration scheme covering 25 hectares – and Westfield, spanning 108,000 square metres, which are awaiting the go-ahead for the M4 line, or else they will have to be scaled back.” As for the outlook, the mayor is not particularly optimistic: “Porta dell’Est involves two contracts: the metro line, which is managed by the City of Milan, and the station, which is the responsibility of RFI. Even though it does not pass through an urban area, the M4 route is not straightforward; it is entirely underground and must pass beneath the Idroscalo, facing significant topographical challenges. It will take 5–7 years to see the project completed; it is essential that all political and institutional stakeholders play their part, as Porta dell’Est has the potential to bring about a quantum leap in both passenger and freight transport.” Milan’s Councillor for Mobility, Arianna Censi, echoes this view, noting that the feasibility study has been approved, meaning the tender process can go ahead (funding permitting). The mayoral candidates are less involved and have yet to define their positions on issues such as this. The exception is Pierfranco Majorino, who speaks out in favour of the project in these terms: “I am in complete agreement and always have been; it is a vital necessity. The important thing is that the resources are additional to, and not in place of, those allocated to other projects.”