As one of the three founding bodies of the Jiaotong University, the history of BJTU dates to 1896. It originated as Railway Management Institute during the Qing dynasty, the first higher education institution in China committed to fostering railway management talents. It is the birthplace of modern China's railway management and telecommunication education. In 1917, it was divided into Beijing Railway Management School and Beijing Post and Telecommunication School. In 1921, the school merged with Shanghai Industrial College, and Tangshan Industrial College to form the original Jiaotong University. After the restructuring of Jiaotong University in 1923, the Beijing campus was renamed Beijing Jiaotong University. In 1950, the school was named Northern Jiaotong University with leading bridge expert and scholar Prof. Mao Yisheng as president. Former President of the PRC Mao Zedong gifted his personal autograph for the university name. In 1952, the University was renamed Beijing Railway Institute. In 1970, the name Northern Jiaotong University was re-adopted. In 2000, the school merged with the Beijing Electric Power College, and the administration was transferred from the Ministry of Railways to the Ministry of Education. In 2003, the use of the name ‘Beijing Jiaotong University’ was resumed. The university cultivated numerous world-renowned outstanding talents, such as the founder of China's first radio station-LIU Han, the author of China's first railway management monograph-JIN Shixuan; the pioneer of railway transport economics in China-XU Jing; one of the earliest four major accountants in China-YANG Rumei, and the famous writer, literary critic, and historian-ZHENG Zhenduo. Notable academics including the designer of the first high-horsepower steam machine in the country-YING Shangcai, the prosecutor representing China at the Tokyo Trial-HSIANG Che-Chun and the famous demographer and economist-MA Yinchu also taught at the University.

BJTU has three campuses: the East and the West campuses, covering nearly one thousand acres and have the building floorage of more than 1 million square meters, situated in the renowned education district of Haidian district, Beijing, and the Weihai international campus of over one thousand acres in Weihai, Shandong Province. All three campuses equipped with sophisticated teaching and research facilities enjoy beautiful scenery and pleasant campus environment. The university also established the Haibin Rail Transit Comprehensive Research and Development Base in Huanghua, Hebei Province, the world-leading Fengtai Rail Transit 'Industry-Academia-Research-Application' Integrated Innovation Base in Fengtai District, Beijing, and the Tangshan Research Institute of Beijing Jiaotong University in Tangshan, Hebei Province, dedicated to developing a demonstration zone for technology R&D, commercialization of scientific findings, and international education. The Shenzhen Research Institute and the Yangtze River Delta Research Institute contributed significantly to the mining of social resources and to the promotion of talent cultivation and research. September 2023, BJTU’s new Xiong’An campus initiated its construction and the university officially ventured into a new era of multi-campus coordinated development.