15-Min Station: A Case Study in North Italy City to Evaluate the Livability of an Area

The goal of this work is to apply the idea of the city in 15 min to railway stations that can become the starting point of the analysis as they represent the “gateway”, where users start their last mile of travel after getting off the train. Within the research, 11 railway stations located in the Lombardy Region in Italy were identified and analyzed. To perform the analysis, an analytical index was implemented and determined for each station: this index summarizes the main features of the station itself in relation to the territory in which it is located. The adopted approach is comparative: it is not important the absolute value of the index of each station, but the comparison between the different indices. In this way it is possible on the one hand to classify the stations and on the other hand to identify and propose possible interventions to improve the role of a railway station in a territory. The proposed model is expandable and replicable: it is possible to add other useful indicators for the calculation of the index of each station and it is also possible to perform the analysis in different territorial contexts. In fact, it is a decision support tool able to provide indications and information for the planning and programming of the railway system and of the city; among the potential users of the proposed model there are railway station managers and administrations.