The socioeconomic impact of train stations: evidence from a 20-year study in Sweden

This study examines the long-term socioeconomic impacts of 44 train station openings between 1995 and 2015 across Swedish regions. Using the conditional difference-in-differences estimator developed by Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021), which accounts for variation in treatment effects across time and locations, we evaluate the impact on population, income, education, and unemployment. Twenty years after the openings, areas with new stations experienced an 18.2 % increase in total population, a 21.6 % rise in the working-age population, and a 22.5 % increase in total earned income relative to control areas. In contrast, no significant effects were observed on average earned income during any post-opening period. These areas saw a 5.8 percentage point rise in post-secondary educational attainment, alongside a 2.7 percentage point increase in unemployment compared to control areas. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that impacts vary depending on initial income levels. Overall, the results show that the train stations were associated with substantial and lasting growth in population size and total earned income, alongside more complex socioeconomic shifts. These findings suggest that new stations can attract residents and trigger a range of socioeconomic changes that are not always predictable.