The main station in Milan is the Stazione Centrale, Piazza Duca d'Aosta (tel: 848 888 088 or 1478 88088, in Italy only), which has high-speed links to other major cities in Italy including Bologna, Venice, Genoa, Turin, Florence and Rome. The vast neo-Babylonian facade dates from the 1930s, dwarfing the ticket offices below from where escalators rise to the platforms and shops. Facilities include a tourist information office (tel: 02 7740 4318), post office, bank and self-service restaurant. Full business facilities are available from Eurostar Club (tel: 02 6698 1013), which even offers four conference rooms (16 to 200 people).

Milan has 10 other stations mostly feeding commuter routes. Porta Garibaldi has useful services to Varese, Bergamo and Cremona. Trains from Cadorna station (downtown Milan), run by Ferrovie Nord Milano - FNM (tel: 02 8511 4382; website: www.ferrovienord.it), include the Malpensa Express. The Italian state railway, Trenitalia (tel: 892 021, in Italy only; website: www.trenitaliaplus.com), runs the rest. Trains are reliable and reasonably priced, although hefty supplements can be added depending on the type of train (Diretto, Inter-Regionale, InterCity or Eurostar). By law, all train tickets must be validated by stamping them in the yellow machines on the platform before boarding.

Rail services: The direct Rome-Milan service between Italy's most important business centres is fast and reliable. Services include the InterCity, with services to destinations such as Rome, and the luxurious Treno Eurostar, which also links Milan to Rome via Bologna and Florence - each service requires supplements. For ports, there are regular trains to Venice and Genoa. The EuroCity train services link Milan to more than 40 other European destinations.