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Master’s · Civil Engineering, Building & Construction

Railway Systems Engineering M.Sc.

RWTH Aachen University · Aachen · Official programme page

18 facts from 6 official pages · last checked 14 November 2026

Reviewed by Dennis Maaß, admission and immigration expert
Published 8 November 2026 · Last reviewed 8 November 2026

Key facts

Length, deadlines and costs

Language
English
Source
“The language of the programme is English. Participants can attend elective subjects taught in German”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

An English-taught specialisation (Studienschwerpunkt) of the otherwise German M.Sc. Transport Engineering and Mobility; the application is made to that M.Sc. RWTH's language-requirement table confirms the specialisation is the English-taught one: it lists the parent M.Sc. as English or German & English "depending on the choice of specialization" and the Railway System Engineer specialisation as English, § 3 Abs. 9 ÜPO.

Study mode
On campus
Source
“Course location Aachen”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

The DAAD entry names Aachen as the course location and gives no online or hybrid mode of study for this programme.

Length
4 semesters
Source
“Programme duration 4 semesters”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

Intakes
Winter, Summer
Source
“Beginning Winter and summer semester”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

Non-EU deadline
1 Sept 2026 (summer 2027)The summer-semester deadline falls in the September before the intake.1 Mar 2027 (winter 2027)
Source
“The following is valid for applicants from: non-EU countries For the summer semester: until 1 September The following is valid for applicants from: non-EU countries For the winter semester: until 1 March”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

Open-admission master's deadlines: non-EU 1 March (winter) and 1 September (summer); EU/EEA 15 July and 15 January. A standing annual deadline; no page prints the literal 2027 dates.

Non-EU tuition
None
Source
“Tuition fees per semester None”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

Application fee
Not stated by the university
2 pages checked, 14 Nov 2026

RWTH publishes no application fee for its faculty (non-fee-paying) master's programmes and does not use uni-assist; RWTH International Academy states 'no application fee' for its own programmes and RWTH Business School charges 50 EUR. No reachable RWTH page states the position for the faculty programmes.

Places
Unrestricted
Source
“Admission to First Semester Open (No NC)”

www.rwth-aachen.de/cms/root/studium/Vor-dem-Studium/Studiengaenge/Liste-Aktuelle-Studiengaenge/Studiengangbeschreibung/Verkehrsingenieurwesen-und-Mobilitaet-M-/~bmyr/Verkehrsingenieurwesen-und-Mobilitaet-M/lidx/1/ · checked 7 November 2026

"Open (No NC)" is RWTH's wording for zulassungsfrei: every applicant who meets the requirements is admitted.

Admission

What you need to apply

3-year bachelor’s
Case by case
Source
“Academic admission requirements include a first university degree that proves the necessary engineering background education as outlined in the exam regulations”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

The admission gate is named subject credits — 118 CP for ACM, 74 ECTS for Railway Systems Engineering — not the total size or length of the first degree, and no minimum ECTS or number of years is stated. A 180-ECTS three-year bachelor's that covers the subjects is not excluded; gaps become conditions to clear before the master's thesis.

Subject background
A first university degree with 18 ECTS in mathematics and statistics, 11 ECTS in mechanics, 5 ECTS in basic electrical engineering, 10 ECTS in at least two of materials science, automatic control, hydromechanics/fluid mechanics/thermodynamics and physics, plus 40 ECTS of subject-specific knowledge.
Source
“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”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

Minimum grade
Not stated by the university
1 page checked, 7 Nov 2026

No minimum grade is stated.

How your grade is converted
Not stated by the university
2 pages checked, 14 Nov 2026

No admission grade-conversion formula is published on any page that could be fetched; RWTH does not use uni-assist, which would otherwise convert the grade.

English
Level B2. IELTS 6 · TOEFL iBT 90 · PTE 60. Cambridge: B2 First. UNIcert II
Source
“IELTS Academic: 6”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

The TOEFL iBT Home Edition and the Duolingo English Test are not mentioned.

German
Not needed when applying
Source
“German language skills No minimum language level required”

www2.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/detail/4881 · checked 7 November 2026

DAAD's own field for this programme; RWTH asks for no German certificate at application or enrolment.

GRE / GMAT / GATE
Not stated by the university
1 page checked, 7 Nov 2026

No GRE or GMAT is mentioned.

Selection
Not stated by the university
1 page checked, 7 Nov 2026

No interview or aptitude procedure is stated beyond the subject-credit check.

India, Pakistan, Nigeria

Rules for applicants from India, Pakistan and Nigeria

English test waiver
Not stated by the university
2 pages checked, 8 Nov 2026

The only exemption RWTH publishes covers a high-school diploma or academic degree obtained in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the United States, and the same page adds that citizenship alone never exempts, so it reaches no applicant from India, Nigeria or Pakistan. The § 3 Abs. 9 ÜPO list does include a certificate from the school education required by law, but the binding Übergreifende Prüfungsordnung (Amtliche Bekanntmachung 2026/172, § 3 Abs. 9 h) accepts it only where it was acquired in a country that is a member of the Council of Europe and expressly certifies English at B2, which rules out school certificates from India, Nigeria and Pakistan; the central table's English wording leaves that condition out. RWTH publishes the table "ohne Gewähr", and § 3 Abs. 9 Satz 4 ÜPO lets a programme's own examination regulations add a route — the examination board checking a bachelor's thesis or seminar paper written in English, as the Data Science regulations do — so without that programme-specific PDF the position stays not stated rather than "none".

Rules that name these countries
None named on the pages checked

The rules for your country across all universities, and the visa rules on English tests, are on the India, Pakistan and Nigeria pages.

More on this programme

Every value was read on an official page and is stored with a verbatim quote; open “Source” to see it. “Not stated by the university” means none of the pages we checked says, and lists those pages. Rules change: confirm with the university before you apply or pay.