How to Take the Malpensa Express into Milan

If you’re flying into Milan from overseas, you’re almost certainly landing at Malpensa, about 50 km northwest of the city. Linate is much closer, but it mostly handles flights within Europe. From Malpensa, the train is the way I’d go: the Malpensa Express doesn’t sit in traffic, it runs from early morning until after midnight, and it drops you at a metro station in central Milan.

Here’s how it works in 2026.

The two routes: Cadorna or Centrale

The Malpensa Express, run by Trenord, has two separate routes into Milan, and no train serves both. Check the destination on the board before you board.

• To Milano Cadorna: about 40 minutes from Terminal 1, stopping at Busto Arsizio Nord, Saronno and Milano Bovisa. About two trains an hour. Cadorna is on metro lines M1 and M2, a short ride from the Duomo and next to Castello Sforzesco. Pick this one if you’re staying in the center.
• To Milano Centrale: about 50 to 57 minutes, calling at Milano Porta Garibaldi on the way in. Centrale is Milan’s main station, on M2 and M3. Pick this one if you’re catching a high-speed train on to Florence, Rome or Venice, or staying near the station. Porta Garibaldi is handy for the Porta Nuova and Isola neighborhoods, and it’s on M2 and M5.

Both terminals have their own station. Trains start at Terminal 2 (the one easyJet uses), then stop at Terminal 1 before heading to Milan. The Terminal 2 station is about 200 meters from arrivals along a covered walkway.

>> Timetables: Malpensa Express on the Trenord site.

What it costs

The fare into central Milan is the same whichever station you choose: about €15 one way in 2026, and €7.50 for children aged 4 to 13. A return bought online, valid for 30 days, is from about €25, so buy the return if you’re flying home from Malpensa within the month.

>> Current fares: Malpensa Express prices page.

Buying a ticket

• Before you land: buy a digital ticket on the Malpensa Express site or in the Trenord app. This is what I’d do. It skips the machines entirely.
• At the airport: there are ticket machines (they take cards) in both stations, and a staffed ticket office near the platforms at Terminal 1.
• Paper tickets must be validated in the machines on the way to the platform before you board. An unvalidated paper ticket counts as no ticket if an inspector comes through.

Finding the train at Terminal 1

1. Collect your bags and go out into the arrivals hall.
2. Follow the signs for “Treni” (trains). The station is on the lower level, down an escalator.
3. Buy your ticket if you haven’t already, and validate it if it’s paper.
4. Check the departure board for your station, Cadorna or Centrale, and head to that platform.
5. Put big bags on the racks by the doors so you’re not taking up seats.
6. Get off at the end of the line. Both Cadorna and Centrale are terminus stations, so you can’t miss your stop.

Train, bus or taxi?

The coaches to Milano Centrale (Terravision, Autostradale and Malpensa Shuttle all run them) are cheaper than the train, but they take about an hour when the roads are clear and longer when they’re not. They make sense if you’re on a tight budget and headed to Centrale anyway. See getting from Malpensa Airport to Milan for the bus details.

A taxi into Milan costs a fixed fare of about €114 in 2026, set by the Lombardy Region. That’s only worth it for a group of three or four with a lot of luggage, or if you land after the last train.

For one or two people with normal bags, take the Malpensa Express.

Other things worth knowing

• Flying out early in the morning? Look at hotels near Malpensa rather than getting up at 4 a.m. to catch the first train.
• Planning a longer trip, say into Milan and home from Rome or Venice? An open-jaw or multi-stop ticket saves you backtracking to Malpensa. AirTreks builds those.
• Once you’re in Milan, the metro is the easiest way around. Here’s how to use the Milan Metro.

photo by Giovanni Dall’Orto, graphic of train route on this Wikipedia page