The potential roles of rail transit investment have been extensively investigated in urban development and management processes. Applying the difference-in-differences model based on a longitudinal data set (2006-2016), this article presents comparative analysis of the surrounding neighbourhoods of four Tehran Metro Rail System (TMRS) stations in order to explain how neighbourhoods can be differently affected by the development of railway stations. The four areas include both high-income and low-income neighbourhoods. The results show that the northern high-income neighbourhoods and the southern low-income neighbourhoods have been transformed heterogeneously in terms of their sociodemographic compositions, housing characteristics, land uses and renewal.