At a time when climate, energy and socio-economic issues are driving a revival in train use, which has been overshadowed for half a century by the hegemony of the car and air travel, we will be wondering whether the challenges associated with the interfaces between stations and cities are the same everywhere. To this end, it would be relevant to look at a few examples to illustrate the similarities and differences between different stations and conurbations. Comparing and analyzing these pairs (station-city) raises questions of governance, interrogating the strategies of the various players who, over the course of the history of these facilities, have guided and projected what stations become and will become as they evolve. This comparison raises questions about the public policies pursued by numerous players, which we will address through an analysis of a number of functions: transport, urban planning and the symbolism of these stations. We have deliberately chosen cities that are different, but at the same time comparable in terms of the position and purpose of their main stations. Indeed, the activity of the main station in a city that is less important than others, can equal and even exceed that experienced in metropolises where rail transportation does not meet today's challenges. We have chosen the following stations: Lausanne, Stuttgart, Zaragoza and Toulouse. In this panel, the Lausanne and Stuttgart stations are far more active in terms of ridership and commercial activities than those of Zaragoza and Toulouse stations. All these stations have undergone or are about to undergo major works: Zaragoza-Delicias, inaugurated in 2003; fof, with the construction of a new underground through-station scheduled for completion in 2025; Toulouse-Matabiau, with the start of its extension; and the Lausanne station redesign project. The aim of these projects is to improve rail functionality while opening the station to the city and commercial activities. These stations are positioned on networks with different logics, ranging from the pre-eminence of high-speed rail, as in Zaragoza, to its expectation in Toulouse, to its absence in Lausanne, and to a soon reinforced complementarity between high-speed rail and other lines in Stuttgart. RER-type services play a very important role in both Lausanne and Stuttgart, while they are still in their infancy at the other two stations. Two new stations in both Zaragoza and Stuttgart involve the reclamation of valuable urban land and the redevelopment of parts of the city, but in a clearly different railway and urban positioning. While Zaragoza's main access is through the high-speed rail network, Stuttgart's is at the heart of a highly diversified network, and their urban footprints are equally different. The capital of Aragon is isolated and on the outskirts of the city center, while the capital of Baden-Württemberg is closely and even more closely linked to the city center, with new cultural and economic facilities being built on former railway sites.