Two pivotal deliverables, Deliverable 2.1: Report on Railway Station Model and SCP Modeland Deliverable 2.2: Report on Impact Analysis Methodology and Tool Setup, within the European project RAIL4CITIES, were recently accepted by Europe’s Rail. These deliverables introduce innovative ways to transform railway stations into vital components of sustainable urban environments while also providing a comprehensive methodology for evaluating their impact.

The Report on Railway Station Model and SCP Model presents an innovative design for both existing and future railway stations, especially within Europe, emphasising how important their role is in fostering a sustainable urban future, not only as mobility hubs but also as integral parts of city life.

The proposed model, known as the Sustainable City Promoter (SCP), consists of three core components:

• Appraisal: involves a thorough review of existing station classification approaches and the identification of key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess current and future stations.
• Fields of action: provides detailed descriptions of various areas where action is required to harness the potential of railway stations for urban transformation, including in key areas such as mobility, energy, and logistics.
• Methodological toolkit: offers a set of methods for facilitating stakeholder collaboration to envision and discuss the appropriate path forward for each station and its surroundings.

The deliverable delves into the scientific process behind the model’s development, including the literature reviews and workshops that led to the fields of action being defined and the methodological toolkit being created. The model’s applicability will be tested in several “living labs” and case studies across Europe, with data collected in order to refine its final version.

The deliverable 2.2 Report on impact analysis methodology and tool setup focuses on developing a methodology for analysing the impact of the new station model within an urban context. The central aim is to calculate the “sustainable return on investment” (S-ROI), which integrates environmental and social factors alongside economic costs and benefits. The methodology incorporates three interrelated components:

• The Theory of Change (ToC): outlines activities, solutions, and impacts for each field of action identified in Deliverable 2.1, serving as a foundation for S-ROI and Multicriteria Analysis (MCA).
• S-ROI: provides an objective indicator of the net contribution or overall benefit of each output, helping optimal solutions to be selected, based on their broad impact.
• MCA: complements S-ROI by integrating various economic, environmental, and social aspects to determine key solutions.

The methodology will be applied and tested in Work Package 3 (WP3) workshops within the living labs, with the resulting data being used to refine and validate the methodology, with subsequent evaluations being conducted in WP4. This comprehensive impact analysis tool aims to guide the development of services and solutions that holistically address social, environmental, and economic factors within the context of railway station transformation.
The living labs across Europe will provide real-world environments to validate and refine both the SCP model and the impact analysis methodology. The insight gained will be instrumental in finalising the model and methodology, ensuring they are adaptable, practical, and effective in promoting sustainable urban development. These deliverables represent significant development towards reimagining railway stations as pivotal parts of sustainable urban landscapes, with a robust framework for assessing their broader impact on cities.

The RAIL4CITIES project is available on Twitter @RAIL4CITIES, LinkedIn and via its website: www.rail4cities.eu.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or of the Europe’s Rail JU. Neither the European Union nor the Europe’s Rail JU can be held responsible for them.

The project is supported by the Europe’s Rail and its members.