Novara, Piedmont, Italy

🇮🇹 Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in north-west Italy, to the west of Milan. I is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin and from Genoa to Switzerland. Novara lies between the rivers Agogna and Terdoppio in north-eastern Piedmont, 50 km (31 mi) from Milan and 95 km (59 mi) from Turin.

Economy Novara is an important commercial centre of the Padan plain and is the seat of the Centro Intermodale Merci (CIM: Goods Intermodal Centre). Economically, it is affected by the proximity of Milan, and in fact many Milanese firms have offices in Novara.

The main economic products and services are: • agriculture: rice and maize (American English: corn) • metallurgical production • chemicals and petrochemicals • pharmaceuticals • food products • intermodal commerce and logistics • banking and insurance services • rice products exchange.

The city of Novara is a member of the TOP-IX (Torino-Piemonte Exchange Point) internet exchange consortium, a consortium to create an Internet Exchange Point for north-western Italy.

Companies based in Novara include the publishing company De Agostini.

Transport The local public transport agency is the SUN.

Railways The city is served by three railway stations: • Vignale FS, a small station operated by the Ferrovie dello Stato (regional trains) • Novara FS, the principal station of the Ferrovie dello Stato, Italy's national railway (regional, national and international trains). • Novara Nord, the station operated by the LeNord railroad. The new station in via Leonardo da Vinci opened in 2005 (regional and high-speed trains (only 2006) trains).

Motorways and main roads Novara is linked to Turin and Milan by the A4 motorway (via the junctions Novara Ovest and Novara Est). The A26 motorway crosses most of Novara province, but there is not a junction that links it directly with Novara. To reach Novara from the A26, one must exit at Vercelli Est, but one can also reach Novara by way of the A4, which crosses the A26 at a junction. Novara is served by a system of dual-carriageway bypasses. The oldest such bypass is the Tangenziale Est, directly linked with the motorway junction Novara Est. In 2003, road works were completed on the Tangenziale Sud.

The S11 trunk road from Milan and Magenta passes through Novara on its way to Vercelli and Turin. Trunk roads to the north and south also link Novara to the motorway network.