As one of the important branches of Jiaotong University, the school can be traced back to 1896 at the earliest. It was established after the departments of Tangshan Railway Institute (now Southwest Jiaotong University) and Beijing Railway Institute (now Beijing Jiaotong University) were split into two and moved to Lanzhou on 1958 with the approval of the State Council. In April 2003, Lanzhou Railway Institute was renamed Lanzhou Jiaotong University. On 20 12, the Ministry of Railways of People's Republic of China (PRC) (China) and Gansu Provincial People's Government signed an agreement to jointly build Lanzhou Jiaotong University.
Lanzhou Railway Institute was listed as a key aid project of the former Soviet Union by the national central government at the beginning of its establishment in 1950s. As one of the important branches of Jiaotong University, Lanzhou Jiaotong University can be traced back to 1896 at the earliest. Lanzhou Jiaotong University is located in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province. The school is invested and built by the central ministries and commissions, a key university of the Ministry of Railways and a high-level university construction institution in Gansu Province. It has been selected into the "Excellent Engineer Education and Training Program" of the Ministry of Education, "Basic Capacity Building Project of Colleges and Universities in the Midwest", outstanding universities with undergraduate teaching level evaluation of the Ministry of Education, governing unit of China Rail Transit Vocational Education Alliance, China People's Liberation Army Air Force Reserve Officers Selection and Training College, member of China-Russia Jiaotong University Alliance, member universities of China-ASEAN Rail Transit Education and Training Alliance, and national demonstration universities for deepening innovation and entrepreneurship education reform. China is an important base for rail transit personnel training and scientific and technological research. It is a teaching and research university focusing on engineering, science, economics, management and literature, and has the qualification to recommend outstanding undergraduate graduates to pursue postgraduate studies without examination.
19591960-1967 the development plan of professional (full-time) schools of railway institute was announced by the Ministry of Railways. In April, the Ministry of Railways held a conference on the education of colleges and secondary specialized schools in Chengdu. The meeting conveyed and implemented the working policy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China Education Conference on "Rectification, Consolidation and Improvement". On the basis of summarizing the work of 1958, this paper puts forward the tasks and objectives of 1959, focusing on strengthening the unified management of schools, adjusting newly-built colleges, improving the quality of education and other issues, and determines six rectification principles. The meeting discussed the Ministry of Railways' Several Provisions (Draft) on Strengthening the Unified Management of Full-time Ordinary Colleges and Secondary Specialized Schools and Opinions on Rectifying Newly-built Colleges and Universities from 65438 to 0958. In June, the Ministry of Railways issued a document to standardize the name and academic system of Railway University. Provisions: Colleges directly under the Ministry of Railways are named after "Railway Institute" and named after the location of the institution; Colleges and universities affiliated to various bureaus, colleges and factories are named after "Railway College" and named after the location of the college; The university directly under the Ministry of Railways has a bachelor's degree for five years, the other four years and a junior college for three or two years. From June 65438 to June 0959, the Ministry of Railways identified Tangshan Railway Institute, Beijing Railway Institute and Lanzhou Railway Institute as three key schools among railway colleges and universities.
1961March, the Ministry of Railways held a conference on railway higher and secondary professional education in Hengyang. The meeting discussed the implementation of the central government's eight-character policy of "adjustment, consolidation, enrichment and improvement", and specifically studied: the preliminary plan for the "four-fixed" adjustment of railway colleges and secondary specialized schools; Enrich and improve the preliminary plan of railway colleges and secondary specialized schools; Decision on the establishment of key railway colleges and universities and key secondary specialized schools by the Ministry of Railways (draft); Interim provisions on the organization of railway colleges and secondary specialized schools (draft); Professional catalogue of railway higher and secondary specialized schools. In April, the Ministry of Railways identified five key institutions of higher learning: Beijing Railway Institute, Tangshan Railway Institute, Lanzhou Railway Institute, Changsha Railway Institute and Nanjing Railway Medical College.
In 2005, with the approval of the Ministry of Railways, the Ministry of Education and the Gansu Provincial People's Government, it was decided to merge Lanzhou Railway Machinery School, a key secondary specialized school of the Ministry of Railways, and Lanzhou Railway Transport Technical School, a key technical school of the Ministry of Railways, into Lanzhou Jiaotong University, a key university of the Ministry of Railways. In 2003, Lanzhou Jiaotong University was approved by the State Council Academic Degrees Committee and became a doctoral degree awarding unit.
In February 2020, China Railway Corporation signed an agreement with Gansu Provincial People's Government to jointly build Lanzhou Jiaotong University. This marks that Lanzhou Jiaotong University has officially entered the ranks of "provincial and ministerial-level joint construction" universities. According to the agreement, China Railway Corporation will focus on supporting Lanzhou Jiaotong University to strengthen scientific and technological innovation, discipline construction and personnel training. Gansu provincial government will further strengthen the organization and leadership of Lanzhou Jiaotong University and support it in running schools, and give special support and support in policies and funds to promote the development of high-quality characteristics of the school. The two sides will jointly promote the construction and development of Lanzhou Jiaotong University, and support Lanzhou Jiaotong University to become an important base for high-quality transportation personnel training, high-level scientific research, high-quality scientific and technological innovation and achievement transformation in western China, and become a high-level teaching and research university with distinct engineering advantages and coordinated development of multiple disciplines.