130 years of serving the national transport industry: the history of the Russian university of transport as reflected in the institute press

Introduction. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct, using archival sources and periodicals, the stages of the formation and development of the Russian University of Transport (MIIT), from the Imperial Moscow Engineering School to the country’s leading national transport university. It also examines the role and place of the university in the training system of transport industry and its contribution to the development of transport science, engineering, and production.

Materials and Methods. To achieve this goal, a historical-systematic approach was used to examine the topics of publications in the institute newspaper, Engineer of Transport, and their changes over different periods of the national socio-political life. Content analysis was employed to process a significant volume of periodicals, specifically publications in the institute newspaper, Engineer of Transport, from 1924 to 1996. Attention was paid to thematic analysis of articles, the authors’ understanding and interpretation of the text, and photographic materials. The study of the institute newspaper, Transport Engineer, identified the key themes (units of analysis) reflecting the academic, scientific, and socio-political activities of MIIT during the period under review. This article is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and comprehensiveness, the consistent application of which allowed us to examine the university history within its specific historical context. Much of the material from the institute newspaper, Transport Engineer, reflecting the life of leading national transport university, is being introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time.

Analysis. The article, using materials from the institute newspaper, Transport Engineer, and archival materials, examines the stages of the formation and development of the Russian University of Transport (MIIT), analyzing its transformation into a systemically important university in the transport industry and a major transport research center.

Results. The results of the study suggest that the development of the educational institution from an engineering school to the leading educational institution in the industry met the socioeconomic, political, and technological challenges facing national transport industry. With a production focus on training highly qualified engineering personnel for the transportation sector, the institute became its pillar. University researchers and graduates participated in the design and construction of key railways in the country: the Trans-Siberian Railway, the Baikal-Amur Mainline, and others. Today, RUT (MIIT) is participating in the design of the first national high-speed railway (HSR), the Moscow-St. Petersburg line, and serves as a research base for the country's transportation system, training personnel for all modes of public transport.

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