Italian and Swiss railways are launching direct trains from Milan's main Malpensa airport to southern Switzerland. Trains will operate nine times daily starting June 10, according to Travel.ru.
The S40 line (Albate-Carmelata - Como - Chiasso - Mendrisio - Varese) will be extended to the airport. Departures from the airport are every two hours from 7:20 AM to 11:20 PM, and return trains are also every two hours from 6:41 AM to 10:41 PM. Travel time to the Swiss railway hub of Chiasso is 1 hour 21 minutes, and to Lugano with a transfer in Mendrisio is 1 hour 35 minutes.
Currently, only fares to Chiasso are available online: €6.70 in second class and €10 in first. This is cheaper than any previously available options. The journey to Lugano is likely slightly more expensive, but these tickets are not available online (the Trenitalia website only offers significantly more expensive tickets with a transfer in Milan, and the Swiss Railways website has not yet updated its timetable). Travel time to Swiss stations has also been reduced by half an hour.
Thus, tourists planning to travel within Switzerland but flying in or out of Milan's Malpensa Airport (Aeroflot, Rossiya, Utair, and Air Italy regularly fly there from Russia) now have a fast, affordable, and convenient transfer option. From the Swiss stations of Chiasso or Mendrisio, you can use domestic Swiss tickets, including various Swiss Travel Passes. In Chiasso or Lugano, connections are available to long-distance trains to Zurich, Basel, and Lucerne. It's worth noting that Switzerland recently introduced an inexpensive day pass, also available to tourists, in addition to standard multi-day passes.
Flights to Malpensa Airport are operated by Flirt trains, a joint Italian-Swiss regional company, TILO (Treni Regionali Ticino Lombardia). First-class carriages are equipped with power outlets.
At Malpensa Airport, trains stop in both terminals. All flights to Russia depart from Terminal 1.
Source: travel.ru
