تا ایستگاه تقریبا ده دقیقه راه است.

Here تا means as far as / up to / until, and in this sentence it introduces the destination: تا ایستگاه = to the station.

In travel-distance expressions, Persian often uses تا where English would simply use to:

• تا خانه = to home / to the house
• تا مدرسه = to school
• تا ایستگاه = to the station

So تا ایستگاه sets the endpoint of the distance.

Yes, راه often means road, path, way, but in this sentence it appears in a very common expression:

• ... ده دقیقه راه است
  = it is a ten-minute walk / it’s ten minutes away

Here راه است does not literally mean there is a road. It means something like:

• the distance is ...
• it takes ... to get there
• it is ... away

So ده دقیقه راه است is an idiomatic Persian way to express distance in terms of travel time.

More or less, yes. Literally it is something like:

• ده دقیقه = ten minutes
• راه = way / distance / route
• است = is

So the literal structure is closer to it is ten minutes’ way. But the natural English meaning is:

• It’s about ten minutes to the station
• The station is about a ten-minute walk away

This is a good example of where Persian uses a structure that sounds unusual if translated word-for-word.

Persian often organizes this kind of sentence differently from English.

The sentence is:

• تا ایستگاه تقریبا ده دقیقه راه است

A rough breakdown:

• تا ایستگاه = to the station
• تقریبا = approximately / about
• ده دقیقه = ten minutes
• راه است = is (in terms of distance/travel time)

English usually says:

• It is about ten minutes to the station

Persian does not need a dummy subject like it. So instead of starting with it is, Persian can begin directly with the destination phrase and then give the distance/time expression.

Yes, تقریبا is somewhat flexible.

In your sentence:

• تا ایستگاه تقریبا ده دقیقه راه است

This is natural and means:

• It’s approximately ten minutes to the station

You may also hear:

• تا ایستگاه ده دقیقه راه است = It’s ten minutes to the station
• تا ایستگاه حدود ده دقیقه راه است = It’s about ten minutes to the station

Very often حدود and تقریبا can both mean about / approximately, though حدود is especially common with numbers.

Because Persian normally does not need an empty subject like English it in expressions such as:

• It is cold
• It is far
• It is ten minutes away

In Persian, the sentence can simply state the condition or fact:

• سرد است = It is cold
• دور است = It is far
• ده دقیقه راه است = It is ten minutes away

So the absence of it is completely normal.

Usually ده دقیقه راه است strongly suggests distance in terms of going there, and often in everyday contexts it is understood as roughly walking distance, especially if no vehicle is mentioned.

So:

• تا ایستگاه تقریبا ده دقیقه راه است often feels like
• The station is about a ten-minute walk away

But context matters. Sometimes it can simply mean it takes about ten minutes to get there, without focusing strictly on walking.

If you want to be more explicit, Persian can specify the mode:

• تا ایستگاه ده دقیقه پیاده راه است = It’s a ten-minute walk to the station
• تا ایستگاه ده دقیقه با ماشین راه است is less natural; for driving people more often use another structure such as ده دقیقه با ماشین طول می‌کشد

In formal written Persian, است is normally included:

• تا ایستگاه تقریبا ده دقیقه راه است

In everyday spoken Persian, it is often omitted:

• تا ایستگاه تقریباً ده دقیقه راهه or even
• تا ایستگاه تقریباً ده دقیقه‌س depending on wording and dialect

A very common colloquial pronunciation is:

• راهه for راه است

So yes, in speech the ending may sound reduced or changed, but in standard writing است is the normal form.

A careful pronunciation is approximately:

tâ istgâh taqriban dah daqiqe râh ast

A few notes:

• تا = tâ with a long â
• ایستگاه = istgâh
• تقریبا = taqriban in careful speech; many learners also hear taghriban depending on accent and transcription style
• دقیقه = daqiqe
• راه = râh
• است = ast, though in connected speech it may sound weaker

In everyday speech, the whole sentence may sound smoother and less careful than the dictionary-style pronunciation.

Yes. Persian has several natural ways to express this idea. For example:

• تا ایستگاه حدود ده دقیقه راه است.
• ایستگاه حدود ده دقیقه پیاده‌روی دارد. — less common for this exact meaning
• تا ایستگاه تقریبا ده دقیقه پیاده راه است.
• ایستگاه حدود ده دقیقه با اینجا فاصله دارد. = The station is about ten minutes away from here

Another very common pattern uses فاصله داشتن:

• ایستگاه تا اینجا حدود ده دقیقه فاصله دارد.

So your sentence is natural, but it is not the only way to say it.

Persian does not have articles that work exactly like English the and a.

So ایستگاه can mean:

• station
• the station
• sometimes even a station

The exact meaning depends on context. In your sentence, the context makes it natural to understand it as the station:

• To the station, it’s about ten minutes

If Persian wants to be more specific, it usually does so through context, word order, or extra words, not through a direct equivalent of English the.

Not exactly.

• به ایستگاه usually means to the station in the sense of motion toward it:

  • به ایستگاه می‌روم = I’m going to the station

• تا ایستگاه emphasizes the endpoint or distance up to the station:

  • تا ایستگاه ده دقیقه راه است = It’s ten minutes to the station

So in distance expressions like this one, تا is the more natural choice. به would not sound as good in this sentence.