- Degree
- Master of Science
- Course location
- Aachen
- Teaching language
- • English
- Languages
- The language of the programme is English. Participants can attend elective subjects taught in German.
- Programme duration
- 4 semesters
- Beginning
- Winter and summer semester
- Application deadline
- EU/EEA applicants: 15 July for the following winter semester and 15 January for the following summer semester
Non-EU/non-EEA applicants: 1 March for the following winter semester and 1 September for the following summer semester
- Tuition fees per semester in EUR
- None
- Combined Master's degree / PhD programme
- No
- Joint degree / double degree programme
- No
- Description/content
- How can innovative ideas in rail vehicle construction enable new transport concepts? How can transport networks be logically developed, expanded, relieved, and ecologically planned? How can factors like rolling stock and routing be managed in a way that need-oriented and smooth railway traffic is possible? How do random disturbances in transportation have to be considered in order to avoid jamming or to optimise safety strategies? How can we shift more passenger and freight transport to the rails? Is driverless operation possible for all kinds of rail transport means? When the interaction of technical possibilities, infrastructure, and human behaviour is supposed to be optimised, transport engineers are called upon for their interdisciplinary perspective.
Students of the Railway Systems Engineering programme acquire this interdisciplinary expertise by studying the perspectives of three engineering disciplines: civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. The specialisation Railway Systems Engineering (RSE) concentrates on the further development of railway engineering. Students work with rail vehicles, rail transportation systems, and infrastructure developments in rail transportation. This Master's programme covers each aspect of the complete system of "railway": the infrastructure, operation, and vehicles, including the electrical drive as well as electric power supply. Furthermore, this is the only specialisation of the Master's degree programme in Transport Engineering and Mobility that can be studied completely in English.
Course objectives and future opportunities
The objective of this specialisation is to train and educate engineers with multidisciplinary expertise that can take the challenges of the modern railway sector head on. The future possibilities for railways, the eldest of the modern transport means, are the brightest among all others. Railways remain ecologically superior, even as modern high-speed trains compete successfully with short and medium distance aeroplanes. The growing number of megacities all around the world would be in chaos without metros, LRVs, and trams. Furthermore, without freight transport on rails, our highways would be even more congested than they are today.
Seemingly modern technologies like electric mobility have been state of the art in railways for more than 100 years. Driverless operation has already been implemented in more than 60 metro and people mover systems around the world. But there is still need for innovation. Digitalisation is the key word, implying driverless operation for all types of railways, energy optimised driving with zero emission, automated condition based monitoring and predictive maintenance, better use of the track capacities, etc.
Railway systems engineers can work for rolling stock manufacturers as well as for their consultants and suppliers. Their expertise is required by the operators as well as by the infrastructure managers. Consequently, along with the engineering companies in the private sector, the opportunities in the public sector are open to them as well.
Finally, no matter where a railway systems engineer works, the diverse tasks at hand are guaranteed to be interesting, challenging, and rewarding.