The history of Lanzhou Jiaotong University (LZJTU) can be traced back to 1896 and 1909 when the Imperial Chinese Railway College and the Beijing Railway Management Institute were founded respectively. In 1958, the Ministry of Railways decided to establish Lanzhou Railway Institute, the third railway institute in China. Five departments including Railway Transportation, Railway Electrical Engineering, Railway Construction, Railway Bridges and Tunnels, and Railway Machinery, along with seven undergraduate disciplines and five junior college programs, were relocated as a whole from Beijing Railway Institute (now Beijing Jiaotong University) and Tangshan Railway Institute (now Southwest Jiaotong University) to Lanzhou. More than 340 experts and scholars from Beijing Railway Institute and Tangshan Railway Institute, represented by Lin Damei, Shen Zhiyang, Hu Chunnong, Sun Qiyin, and Zhang Tingjian, came to teach in Lanzhou, and 446 new students were enrolled in the same year. In the 1960s, a group of Candidates of Sciences and postgraduates who had studied in the Soviet Union were transferred to enrich the teaching staff. The veteran educators led students from all corners of the country. In the tough environment of China’s northwest region, they remained true to their original aspirations and were diligent in pursuit of their dreams. With their wisdom and affection for building, loving, and glorifying the school, it has embarked on a new age of the first 60-year cycle of Lanzhou Jiaotong University。

In the year 2000, the school implemented the system of “joint construction by the central and local governments, with the local government taking the main responsibility for management” and renamed as Lanzhou Jiaotong University in 2003.

With its distinctive features in rail transport, LZJTU has become known as “the cradle of railway engineers in China.” It has achieved remarkable results and a good reputation in talent cultivation, scientific research, social service, cultural inheritance, innovation as well as international exchanges, thus winning a good reputation for itself. LZJTU is dedicated to serving the society by preparing excellent graduates, leading the industry, and making an impact regionally and nationally. It continues enjoy a high prestige in rail transit construction in northwest China.