Railway engineering is a multi-faceted engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction and operation of all types of rail transport systems. It encompasses a wide range of engineering disciplines, including civil engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering and production engineering. A great many other engineering sub-disciplines are also called upon.

Railway systems entail much more than a train and a track. They are based on advanced technical and operational solutions, dealing with continuously changing demands for more efficient transport for both passengers and freight every day. Each system consists of many components that must be properly integrated: from trains, tracks, stations, signaling and control systems, through monitoring, maintenance and the impact on cities, landscape and people. This integration is the big challenge and the source of many train delays, inconvenient connections and other issues that impact our society.

Railway engineering offers substantial economic benefits, energy efficiency, and environmental and safety benefits to nations all over the world, and rail is widely viewed as a vital component of the integrated transportation system for sustainable and resource efficient societies of the future. There is substantial demand for engineers with integrated knowledge of railway subsystems (infrastructure, vehicles and traffic control) who understand how to maximise performance of the whole system.