Railway Systems Engineering RWTH Aachen University

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 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. 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.

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.

The faculties of Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and the School of Business and Economics have established an interdisciplinary study programme on the field of transportation called Transport Engineering and Mobility.

The Master's programme is offered in five specialisations, covering all kinds of transportation. The Railway Systems Engineering (RSE) Master's programme is offered in German ("Bahnsystemingenieurwesen") as well as in English.

The RSE Master's programme is organised by the Research Center Railways, a cooperation between three institutes from the three different engineering faculties mentioned above. These are:

Institute of Transportation Science and Chair of Railway Engineering and Transport Economics (VIA)
See: http://www.via.rwth-aachen.de

Chair and Institute of Rail Vehicles and Transport Systems (IFS)
See: https://www.ifs.rwth-aachen.de/en/

Chair and Institute for Power Electronics and Electrical Drives (ISEA)
See: https://www.isea.rwth-aachen.de/

Exemplary study plan
First semester:

• Railway Systems
• Principles of Rail Vehicle Technology
• Power Electronics - Fundamentals, Topologies and Analysis
• Environmental Sustainability in Transport Engineering
• Energy Storage Systems

Second semester:

• Railway Control Systems
• Sustainability Strategies in Policy and Companies
• Mechatronic Systems in Vehicle Engineering
• Advanced Electrical Drives
• Mobility Research and Transportation Modelling
• Power Electronics – Control, Synthesis and Applications

Third semester:

• Track Guiding Technology
• Railway Capacity Management and Operations
• Railway Operations Lab
• Advanced Electrical Drives
• Internship of eight to sixteen weeks

Fourth semester:

• Master's thesis
• Multibody Dynamics

An internship is integrated into the Master's degree programme. This internship should take place at a railway-specific company or research institution and should encompass typical engineering tasks. After successful completion of the internship, students will be awarded up to 20 ECTS credit points.

Academic admission requirements include a first university degree that proves the necessary engineering background education as outlined in the exam regulations.

Applicants should have completed 18 ECTS in mathematics/statistics (at least 14 ECTS in mathematics and 2 ECTS in statistics), 11 ECTS in mechanics, and 5 ECTS in the field of basic electrical engineering. Furthermore, they have to prove knowledge equivalent to at least 10 ECTS in at least two of the following topics: building material science/material science, automatic control, hydromechanics/fluid mechanics/thermodynamics, physics.

Subject-specific knowledge equating to 40 ECTS is required. From this subject-specific knowledge, at least 10 ECTS must have been acquired in two of the following fields: transportation science, mechanical engineering, or electrical engineering. This knowledge must be comparable with what is taught in the RWTH Bachelor's programme in Transport Engineering and Mobility.

The examination board may admit students to a Master's degree programme on the condition they obtain additional qualifications. Evidence of the completion of such additional requirements must be provided before registering for the Master's thesis.

Admission to the Master's programme is not possible if your additional requirements exceed the CP (credit points) listed below:

• mathematical-statistic basics: 8 CP
• basics in mechanics: 9 CP
• further engineering basics: 8 CP
• subject-related basics: 15 CP
• or total scope of additional requirements: 30 CP.

In addition, proof of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test is required. Applicants who are nationals of a member state of the European Union or of the European Economic Area (EEA) are exempt from this requirement.

All RWTH students must pay a social contribution to student services amounting to approx. 358 EUR per semester. This is not a tuition fee. Please visit our website for further information on how the fee is spent: http://www.rwth-aachen.de/re-enrollment/?lidx=1.

The cost of living is approximately 1,132 EUR per month (including the social contribution fee for each semester).

International students may take up work in the private sector during the semester or the semester break for up to three months without having obtained a work permit. Students thus may take up full-time work for 120 days or part-time positions for 240 days. This regulation is also stated on the residence permit. During the semester, students are allowed to take up jobs with working hours of up to 20 hours a week.
Student assistants are more flexible as regards working hours.

RWTH offers a variety of scholarships. Please find more information online: http://www.rwth-aachen.de/go/id/dyiv/lidx/1.

The RWTH Aachen University Career Center offers support by providing opportunities that strengthen your professionalism and exercise your individual skills in the application process. All enrolled RWTH Aachen University students can participate in the seminars at the Career Center. Please find more information online: https://www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/studium/nach-dem-studium/~ejx/karriere/?lidx=1.

Availability of university accommodation in Aachen is limited. Therefore, participation in individual allocation procedures is usually required. Because of the demand for university accommodation, it can be necessary to switch to the private accommodation market. Especially family and couples apartments are very high in demand, so that accommodation from the private market is seemingly mandatory. The majority of RWTH Aachen University's students are committed to the private accommodation market. There are a number of options for finding private accommodation in and around Aachen; the International Office can provide students with information beforehand or upon their arrival.

Prices for university accommodation vary between 300 EUR and 500 EUR per month, accommodation on the private market is priced between 350 EUR and 600 EUR per month, of course depending on the size and the number of rooms.

For short-term accommodation, there are many hotels, a few youth hostels, and a boardinghouse located in and around Aachen (reservation is recommended). Please visit https://www.rwth-aachen.de/housing for further information.

With 290 institutes in 10 faculties, RWTH Aachen University is one of Europe's leading institutions for science and research. Currently, more than 44,000 students are enrolled in 190 academic programmes. More than 15,000 of them are international students hailing from 141 different countries. The scientific education students receive at RWTH Aachen University is firmly rooted in real-world application. As a result, our graduates are highly sought after by businesses to work as trainees and fill executive positions. National and international rankings show that our graduates have a high aptitude for managing complex tasks, constructively solving problems in teams, and taking on leadership responsibilities. Thus, it should come as no surprise that one in five board members of German corporations is an alumnus of RWTH Aachen University.

Work conducted in the research centres at RWTH Aachen University is strongly oriented towards the current needs of industry, commerce, and the professions. This has resulted in numerous innovations, patents, and licences. The individual competence centres at RWTH Aachen University collaborate effectively across departments and faculties in interdisciplinary groups and forums, while still maintaining a strong focus on their own department specialisation. For instance, the computer science and biology departments — and even the social sciences — all have a clear connection to the school's engineering focus. This has been a crucial factor in motivating multinational corporations such as Philips, Microsoft, and Ford to locate their research institutions in the Aachen region.
Excellence in teaching and research constitutes the basis from which RWTH Aachen University works with other leading institutions and technical universities around the world.

As Germany's westernmost city, Aachen is located on the borders of Belgium and the Netherlands. Its population is about 260,000. Aachen's historic centre around the distinctive cathedral (UNESCO world heritage site) is characterised by a student lifestyle. At the city's doorstep, the hilly Eifel landscape with its rivers, lakes, and forests offers a picturesque countryside for outdoor recreation.
Aachen benefits from its central location in the heart of Europe!