Metadata
Title
Railway Engineering
Category
general
UUID
2dc2de9e9f464742864d62d32b8bd2d6
Source URL
https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/railway-engineering/
Parent URL
https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/our-courses/transport-and-mobility/
Crawl Time
2026-03-23T11:30:02+00:00
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# Railway Engineering

**Source**: https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/railway-engineering/
**Parent**: https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/our-courses/transport-and-mobility/

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- Identify opportunities to improve the performance and reliability of a railway network, based on your analysis of interfaces and interactions between track, train, traction and civil structures.
- Design and improve reliable and robust train service that can respond more effectively to unforeseen circumstances and unexpected situations.
- Develop strategies to optimize the use of the railway network by recognizing infra-capacity, availability of rolling stock, deployment of staff, communication methods and new technologies.
- Create a robust railway system, ensuring comfort, reliability and safety, while making the best possible use of the existing (or potentially new) infrastructure.
- Design an integral monitoring and maintenance solution using a systems perspective.

### Start date Feb 25, 2026

€ 2.000,-

€ 2.450,-

18%
off

program content

4 Courses

- Location
  Online
- Pacing
  Instructor-paced
- Length

  For instructor paced courses this is the length of the course.

  For self-paced courses this is the length of the course if you spend the amount of time per week as specified. You're free to go faster or slower as you see fit.

  28 Weeks
- Effort
  4 - 6 Hours per week

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- [Rolf Dollevoet](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/instructors/rolf-dollevoet/)
- [​Valéri Markine](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/instructors/valeri-markine/)
- [Eelco Schrik](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/instructors/eelco-schrik/)
- [Alfredo Nunez Vicencio](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/instructors/alfredo-nunez-vicencio/)

### Programme

Develop your expertise with multiple courses at a discounted price.

- Overview

  **Improve your strategies and decision making in the design, operations and performance of both infrastructure and rolling stock.**

  Learn and apply the skills and knowledge needed to deal with the multifaceted aspects of railway systems to achieve a more reliable, safe and high-comfort railway network, transporting people and goods in a fast and efficient way.

  This Railway Engineering Programme offers a **Microcredential** – which is an additional quality certification awarded as a digital badge that can be easily shared and verified. It consists of the following three career-oriented courses and a capstone project:

  - Railway Engineering: Track and Train Interaction
  - Railway Engineering: Real Time Operations
  - Railway Engineering: Performance over Time
  - Railway Engineering: Capstone Project

  This highly practical programme will provide you with the appropriate tools and valuable insights in how to adopt this new systems approach to railway engineering and operations.

  Throughout the programme you will work on many small projects and real-life cases and then conclude with a capstone project where you will work on a real-life project (either your own project or one provided by the course team) and you will receive personal guidance and feedback throughout.

  **Is this programme for you?**\
  This programme is aimed at professionals working in the railway sector. From rail engineers and specialists/experts in rail systems, rail maintenance, track maintenance, and safety to operations managers, asset managers (track/train) and other professionals in managerial or advisory roles. It equips them to develop a good operational understanding of a systems view of railway networks to enhance the quality of their work, investment decisions, innovation initiatives, analysis of technical failures, project documentation and system optimization.

  **Discounted programme fee**\
  You can enroll in our courses separately but if you join the full programme – consisting of three courses plus a staff guided capstone project – you will follow the courses in our suggested order and benefit from our package price: € 2000 (saving up to € 450). Individual courses are € 575 per course. The capstone project is € 725 and is only available to learners who complete all three courses.
- Details

  To keep trains running, improve services over time and offer faster and more comfortable travel, the rail industry is in need of professionals with the knowledge and skills to support innovation and provide sustainable and low-cost solutions. This entails the smart use of resources and the ability to meet the demands and requirements of all stakeholders involved. To do this successfully, experts need not only to master their own area of specialization, but be able to understand railway operations from a broader systems perspective. They need to be able to control, oversee and derive benefit from the connections and interactions between all the parameters, processes and interfaces of these complex technical systems, including those of a political rather than a technical nature.

  Through understanding how all the interfaces relate, affect each other and influence the system, professionals can deploy more efficient ways of planning and implementing operational and maintenance strategies. This will ultimately have an impact on their decisions about investment, innovation and optimization.

  This Programme in Railway Engineering consists of the following three career-oriented courses and a capstone project:

  - **Railway Engineering: Track and Train Interaction (your start date is February 25, 2026)**\
    This course will equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to apply a systems approach to railway engineering and a proactive approach to problem solving. This will enable you and your organization to make smarter choices when dealing with current or potential problems. It will also strengthen your ability to think systematically, prevent problems or deal with them more efficiently and improve the railway system as a whole. [Download the full syllabus for the first course](https://s.db28b32f9.entry.domains/typo3/Product%20assets/track-and-train-interaction-course-syllabus.pdf)
  - **Railway Engineering: Real Time Operations (your start date is May 6, 2026)**\
    This course will enhance your decision-making abilities and provide you with strategies to ensure greater reliability in ever-changing situations. You will learn how to optimize the operation and capacity of the railway network and structure, align and optimize the various transport modes, and manage the planning and phases of complex railway systems in a real-time environment. [Download the full syllabus for the second course](https://s.db28b32f9.entry.domains/typo3/Product%20assets/real-time-operations-course-syllabus.pdf)
  - **Railway Engineering: Performance over Time (your start date is September 2, 2026)**\
    This course will enable you to apply a systems approach to monitoring and maintenance of railway assets to enhance their performance and availability. By predicting defects through health condition monitoring and assessing the life-cycle-costs of maintenance operations, we can determine the optimal preventive maintenance actions, to ensure safety at all times while minimizing costs. [Download the full syllabus for the third course](https://s.db28b32f9.entry.domains/typo3/Product%20assets/performance-over-time-course-syllabus.pdf)
  - **Railway Engineering: Capstone Project (your start date is October 28, 2026)**\
    The Capstone Project, which is a case/project-based course, will finalize your Railway Engineering programme. You will not receive additional lectures, but instead will work on a design project that integrates the knowledge and skills gained from the first three courses. You will work on either your own project or on a project provided by the course team. The capstone project will be staff-graded and you will receive personalized guidance and feedback throughout.

  **Company benefits**\
  With an integrated approach rail professionals can develop a wider focus. Without the right skills and knowledge, the choices they make will adversely affect performance. The resulting cost and time issues will impact negatively on both their companies and our wider society. TU Delft's unique systems approach to the engineering aspects of rail infrastructure and rolling stock will strengthen the operations, management and investments of the organizations in this sector. Companies will see an increase in their employees' quality of work and their potential to innovate.

  - [Watch sample video lectures](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeEC3p3fJt1f-_Fw0r1sK9YBEDWFbAzg_)
- Job outlook

  - There is increasing pressure on the labor market for railway engineers with integral knowledge of railways to deal with projects, operations and maintenance more efficiently. This has been reported as ongoing for many years but it is currently increasing every year. In the Netherlands alone, 40 new master-level railway engineers are needed every year. This does not even include the demand for professionals in the field of train operations.
  - And it is an international issue too: "Transportation and logistics companies, including rail, will have a harder time employing workers with the needed skills, in the right place, at the right time. Strategies for managing talent are now on top of the CEO agenda: in a recent survey by PwC, 66% of CEOs say that a lack of the right skills is their biggest talent challenge." (source: SIAF International - Edition 2016).
- Real career impact

  *"With the existing infrastructure and the current mobility needs in big cities, railway companies need to find innovative ways of handling disturbances and dealing with the maintenance of railway networks. This unique programme will allow rail professionals to apply an integrated railway systems approach so they can implement appropriate innovations needed to optimize maintenance time, costs and safety." -* **Taco Sysling - Head of Civil Engineering, Department of Asset Management, ProRail**
- Qualifications

  ##### Certificates

  If you successfully complete this programme you will earn a Professional Education Certificate and you are eligible to receive 12 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

  The [Microcredential certification](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/microcredentials/) is awarded to participants who enroll and complete the full programme starting on February 28, 2024 or later.

  ##### Chartered Engineering Competences

  All our online courses and programs have been matched to the competences determined by [KIVI’s Competence Structure](https://charteredengineer.nl/competence-structure/), a common frame of reference for everyone, across all disciplines, levels and roles.

  These competences apply to this course:

  - A1: Extend your theoretical knowledge of new and advancing technologies.
- Admission

  This programme is primarily geared towards working professionals.

  To fully benefit from these courses you should have basic knowledge and working experience in railways. This programme is particularly aimed at Rail engineers, Rail system specialists, Rail system experts, Rail maintenance specialists/experts, Track maintenance specialists/experts, Safety specialists, Operations managers, Asset managers of track/train, and other professionals in managerial or advisory roles working in the railway sector.

  This Professional Certificate Programme has been designed so that knowledge is acquired gradually. We therefore expect learners to follow the courses in the order (and dates) presented on the program website at the time of enrollment. The last course (Capstone Project) is only available to learners who complete all three courses.
- FAQ

  **What is a Professional Certificate Programme (PCP) in Railway Engineering?**\
  It is a series of three career-oriented courses plus a capstone project specifically designed for professionals working in the railway sector who wish to build up their technical and systems knowledge. The program is offered by TU Delft and endorsed by industry partner ProRail and KIVI.

  **How much time do I need to spend on each course?**\
  Each course runs for 6 weeks. Learners are expected to invest approximately 4-5 hours per week. Based on the total length of the courses and their weekly effort, you can expect 100-120 hours of workload for the whole program throughout the year.

  **What does each of the courses consist of?**\
  The courses vary a little but in general they consist of lecture videos, assignments, forums, interactive images and videos, ask-the-professor feedback and real-life cases. There is usually at least 1 quiz and 1 activity per week in each course and a final assignment. Learners are assessed in the course through small assignments, which can be self or peer graded. Only final assignments and the Capstone Project are staff graded.

  In the first 3 courses, the structure is:\
  5 x quizzes (20% of grade, 1 per week for 5 weeks)\
  5 x graded discussions (15% of grade, 1 per week for 5 weeks)\
  2 x mini-cases (15% - placement differs per course)\
  1 x final assignment (50% grade, begins in week 4, deadline in week 6)\
  \
  The quizzes are based on the provided material. The graded discussions frequently ask you to bring in your knowledge from your own background, and will usually ask you to provide links to resources to support your arguments/facts. The mini-cases vary, some are calculations based on a specific contextual issue, while others provide a case for you to assess, argue for/against, reflect on or come up with a solution.\
  \
  The final assignments are specific to each course, but these usually take the most time to prepare which is why week 6 has no additional content, and hence full time is needed to work on the assignment itself.

  The Capstone Project requires you to work on a project that integrates the knowledge and skills gained from the first three courses. You will not receive additional lectures, but instead you will work on either your own project or on a project provided by the course team. The capstone project will be staff-graded and you will receive personalized guidance and feedback throughout.

  **What are the requirements to enroll in this programme?**\
  There are no formal admission requirements to enroll in the first three courses. However, the fourth course (Capstone Project) is only available to learners who complete the first three courses. To fully benefit from these courses you should have basic knowledge of and working experience in railways, and maths at bachelor (or at least high school) level.

  **Do I receive any credentials or qualifications after taking this programme?**\
  Completing all three courses and the capstone project leads to a Professional Certificate Programme from TU Delft and you will be eligible to receive 12 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Furthermore, participants who enroll(ed) in this programme starting on February 28, 2024 or later, are also entitled to a Microcredential.

  **Do I receive any credentials or qualifications if I take the programme’s courses separately?**\
  After completing every course you will receive a certificate of completion and CEUs. The last course (Capstone Project) is only available to learners who complete all three courses and it does not lead to a separate certificate. Completing the capstone project means that you have already finished all four courses and therefore you will be entitled to the programme certificate.

  **Do I need to take the courses in the order proposed?**\
  This program has been designed so that knowledge is acquired gradually. We therefore expect learners to follow the courses in the order presented on the programme website. However, if you do not want to pursue the full programme you may choose to enroll in any course of your choice based on your background knowledge or experience. The last course (Capstone Project) is only available to learners who complete all three courses.

  **Can I partially unenroll from this program?**\
  If you would like to stop your participation in a programme and have already started one or more courses, you are subject to the following policy:

  - Learners will receive a refund of the amount they paid, minus the regular (i.e. undiscounted) course fee for individual courses started, minus the administration fee for each course the learner cancels.
  - The refund for the courses not taken is subject to the tuition refund policy for individual courses with respect to the cancelation period.

  **What materials and books do I need to be able to participate in this PCP?**\
  All materials, readings and lectures are included in the course.

  **Can I access the course and/or course materials after the end date?**\
  After the course ends, you will have 6 months to access and view the course content.

  **Is the content of the course downloadable as PDF?**\
  TU Delft does not offer the option of downloading an entire course. Only selected readings, video transcripts, etc. are downloadable.

  **Do I have to follow all courses to receive a Professional Certificate Programme credential?**\
  Yes, you need to complete all three courses and the capstone project to obtain the program certificate. That is four courses in total. Please be aware that the program courses have a 2 year validity towards the program certificate. This means that from the time of the registration into the first course, you have two years to complete the full programme so that you are eligible for the program certificate. If you decide to take one or more courses separately and you are not interested in the full program you will (only) receive a certificate of completion after successfully finishing each course.\
  \
  **What happens if I enroll in the full program and I miss or skip a course?**\
  If you enroll in the full programme you are expected to follow the courses in the order and dates presented on the programme website at the time of enrollment. If you miss or skip (a) course(s) you can join the next available run(s) of the missed/skipped course(s) paying 75% of the individual course(s) fee.
- Contact

  If you have any questions about this programme or the TU Delft online learning environment, please visit our [Help & Support](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/help-support/) page.

A Microcredential is an additional quality certification for small educational units. It shows what knowledge, competence and experience the participant has gained upon successful completion of the course. A Microcredential is awarded in the form of a digital badge which can be shared and is instantly verifiable.

- [More information](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/microcredentials/)

## What our learners say about us

- > Online learning gives us flexibility and mostly is offered at affordable fees compared to classroom programs.
  >
  >
  > Davel Sihombing - Indonesia

  [Read the full story](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/learner-stories/default-b3c4353c74207bc157519e81a2a70c18/)
- > Make better-informed decisions in relation to railway planning, urban planning, and policy recommendations.
  >
  >
  > Elias Abou Mrad - Lebanon

  [Read the full story](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/learner-stories/elias-abou-mrad/)
- > This program allowed me to have a broader perspective of not only railway engineering, but the railway industry.
  >
  >
  > Georges Zaghloul - Lebanon

  [Read the full story](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/learner-stories/georges-zaghloul/)
- > This course enabled me to understand the upcoming digitalization in railways.
  >
  >
  > Marco Langwadt - Germany

  [Read the full story](https://learningforlife.tudelft.nl/learner-stories/marco-langwadt/)