Milan to Zurich

Italy to Switzerland via the Gotthard

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The fastest EuroCity from Milan to Zurich takes 3 h 17 min, and 14 trains a day run direct, operated jointly by SBB and Trenitalia. The line passes Lake Como and Lake Lugano, then goes under the Alps through the 57 km Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest and deepest railway tunnel in the world.

Poster of Milan to Zurich — **On your wall**Milan to Zurich on the Atlas map, as a 50 × 70 cm poster. The style, size and words are yours to change.

Route facts

Duration	Fastest 3 h 17; 14 direct trains/day each way¹
Key structure	Gotthard Base Tunnel, 57 km, with up to 2,300 m of rock overhead; the world's longest and deepest rail tunnel²
Operator	SBB + Trenitalia EuroCity (Giruno trains since Dec 2020)³
Reservations	Compulsory on EC trains to and from Italy; included in international tickets³
Fares (2026)	From CHF 38 (2nd) / CHF 79 (1st) saver fares incl. reservation. Book at sbb.ch¹
Season	EuroCity year-round; the scenic Gotthard Panorama Express alternative runs 18 Apr–18 Oct 2026⁴
Tunnel opened	1 June 2016, after 17 years of construction; cost CHF 12.2 bn⁵

Height along the route

The height of the track, from AWS Open Data terrain tiles along Trainmap's route. Through tunnels and over bridges, which come from OpenStreetMap, the line runs straight from one end to the other. The highest station is Zürich HB, at 405 m.

Scenic highlights

Lake Zug & Lake Lucerne. Soon after Zurich the line skirts the Zugersee and then Lake Lucerne before entering the Alps. Side to sit: right heading south (Seat 61).³
Gotthard Base Tunnel. About 20 minutes in the dark at up to 200 km/h, with 2.3 km of mountain overhead.⁵
Lake Lugano. South of the Alps the line runs along Lake Lugano in Ticino.³
Como San Giovanni. After the border at Chiasso, trains call at Como, on the southern tip of Lake Como, and then at Monza and Milano Centrale.³
The old mountain line. The seasonal Gotthard Panorama Express takes the 1882 route instead, with a steamboat across Lake Lucerne for part of the way. Its spiral tunnels show the church at Wassen from three sides.⁶

Stations on this route

Milano Centrale
Lugano
Zürich HB

Swiss voters approved the Base Tunnel in a 1992 referendum. Its builders removed 28.2 million tonnes of rock, and when the last section broke through in 2010 the two ends met within 8 cm. The 1882 Gotthard railway, whose 15 km summit tunnel was then the longest in the world, still carries the panoramic trains (Gotthard railway).

“Today is a historic day for our country: we have completed the Gotthard Base Tunnel, an epic feat of engineering.”
Johann Schneider-Ammann, President of the Swiss Confederation, 1 June 2016⁷