Chiasso-Como

Countries: Switzerland , Italy

The Italian town of Como (85,263 inhabitants) is situated on the shores of Lake Como, 45 km north of Milan. Much like the latter town, Como’s economic activity has long been centred on the textile industry. Since the 1980s, which saw the decline of this sector, the services and tourism sectors represent the biggest economic driving forces for the Lombardy region. The smaller town of Chiasso (7,763 inhabitants), while situated in Switzerland, is also part of the Po plain. The cross-border conurbation is served by a fast-growing intermodal transport network, and thus represents the gateway to southern Switzerland.

The Chiasso-Como conurbation thus forms an intermodal node in the European transport network, which it has been able to exploit thanks to a dynamic of sustained cross-border cooperation and cross-border spatial planning. Its median position on the North-South axis linking Milan to Basel and Zurich places the conurbation at the heart of commerce between southern Italy and Switzerland. Both the efficiency of the railway network (the express train from Basel to Milan by the Gothard tunnel, for example) and the effective management of road traffic on the E35 linking Bologna to Basel via Milan confer a strategic advantage to the cross-border conurbation. The regional railway service is also operational, as illustrated by the project for the extension of the Tessin (CH)–Gallarate (IT) line via Chiasso-Como to Varese and Milan Malpensa Airport, whose completion is forecast for 2013. This new connection will make it possible to cover the distance between Lausanne and southern Switzerland in only 3 hours and 15 mins, as opposed to the current 5 hours.