<p>To enhance the seismic performance of underground subway station structures, the concrete-filled-steel-tube (CFST) columns were adopted in the subway station structures instead of the conventional reinforced concrete (RC) columns in engineering practice. This study primarily compares the effects of CFST columns and RC columns on the seismic performance of subway station structures based on numerical simulations with explicit consideration of the nonlinear dynamic response of soil and structures. Initially, this study designs the CFST column section based on the RC column section using the equivalent bending stiffness method. Two numerical models of the CFST-column and RC-column subway station structures considering nonlinear soil-structure interaction (SSI) were established on the OpenSees finite element platform. A set of 21 ground motions were selected and back-calculated to derive the bedrock motions in a layered site, and subsequently used as the input motions for the SSI system. Moreover, a nonlinear static pushover analysis was performed on the SSI system to determine the damage states of the subway station structures with CFST- and RC-columns. Linear regression analysis was conducted to establish the seismic fragility curves of the subway station structures. The results show that the CFST column subway station structures exhibits an average 44% lower damage probability compared to the RC column subway station structures for a 2450-year return period region with peak ground acceleration of 0·63 g. This study quantifies the failure probability of the structure at different performance levels and presents a reference for performance-based seismic design of subway station structures.</p>