Journal profile · Multiple
Urban Rail Transit
ISSN 2199-6687 · eISSN 2199-6679 · SpringerOpen · Germany · 4 issues per year
Urban Rail Transit: CAS Zone 3 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 3.6 (journal website); fully open access; APC about USD 1,690; median 127 days to acceptance (48 articles, last 24 months); 25 articles in 2025; indexed in ESCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Urban Rail Transit is published by SpringerOpen and is in Zone 3 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Transportation Planning and Optimization, Urban Transport and Accessibility and Railway Systems and Energy Efficiency, together about 41.3% of its articles. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Urban Rail Transit is an interdisciplinary and open-access journal that provides a platform for scientists, researchers and engineers of urban rail transit Covers topics in urban rail transportation operation and management, design and planning, civil engineering, equipment and systems and other related topics. Promote academic discussions and technical exchanges among peers. Also reports important news on the development and operating experience of urban rail transit and related government policies, laws, guidelines, and regulations. Beijing Urban Rapid Rail Transit Press Co. Ltd covers the article-processing charges for a select number of articles. The journal operates a double-blind peer-review system, where the reviewers do not know the names or affiliations of the authors and the reviewer reports provided to the authors are anonymous.Founding Honorary Chief EditorZhongheng Shi, deceased 2024 Editor-in-Chief Liang Gao PhD Baoming Han PhD Executive Editor-in-Chief Chun Zhang PhD Xuesong Zhou PhD Managing Editor Xiaojuan Li PhD View all editors
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Multiple
Editor-in-chief Liang GaoPublisher website
Editorial board by country: 23 in mainland China (about 59%); most named Mainland China 23, United States 7, Thailand 2, United Kingdom 1, Germany 1 (39 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Transportation Planning and OptimizationSocial Sciences20.1%
- Urban Transport and AccessibilitySocial Sciences11.5%
- Railway Systems and Energy EfficiencyEngineering9.7%
- Railway Engineering and DynamicsEngineering9.3%
- Urban and Freight Transport LogisticsEngineering5.6%
- Traffic Prediction and Management TechniquesEngineering5.2%
- Transportation and Mobility InnovationsEngineering4.7%
- Evacuation and Crowd DynamicsEngineering3.8%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Engineering Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Transportation | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Transportation Science & Technology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Transportation | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Transportation Science & Technology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Engineering Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Transportation | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Transportation Science & Technology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
ESCIScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Indexing the journal's website claims
EI CompendexCASPublisher website
Other: Google Scholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, Dimensions, CNKI, Baidu, Naver, OCLC, Portico, CLOCKSS
As the journal's website lists them, not checked against each database; for Web of Science editions the records above apply.
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 3.6Publisher website ·
- 5-year impact factor (publisher) 2025
- 2.9Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 4.8LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 2Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.6LetPub ·
- SJR (publisher)
- 4.8Publisher website ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.29LetPub ·
- SNIP (publisher)
- 0.6Publisher website ·
- h-index
- 32OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 123OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 4.03OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 100%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 25LetPub ·
- Downloads per year (publisher) 2025
- 308,400Publisher website ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 272 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 24 | 24 | 6 |
| 2025 | 25 | 25 | 77 |
| 2024 | 27 | 27 | 223 |
| 2023 | 24 | 24 | 228 |
| 2022 | 23 | 23 | 267 |
| 2021 | 20 | 20 | 262 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Review time from article dates manuscript dates registered with Crossref · to
127 daysMedian, submission to acceptance · P25–P75 96 days – 194 days
- Acceptance to online
- median 60 days (48 articles)
- Submission to online
- median 191 days
- Sample
- 48 articles with submission and acceptance dates (52 in the window); the latest was accepted on
Only articles that were accepted and published are counted, not the time spent on rejected manuscripts, so this usually runs longer than a publisher's "time to first decision".
Other sources
- Average review time (community reports)
- about 5 weeksLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 8 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 5 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | EUR 1,340 / USD 1,690 / GBP 1,140 | No | CC BY | |
| OpenAlex | USD 1,590 / EUR 1,290 / GBP 1,090 | — | — | |
| LetPub | No APC | No | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteExcerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- SpringerOpen
- Country or region
- Germany
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- 4 issues per year
- ISSN
- 2199-6687
- Electronic ISSN
- 2199-6679
- Latest issue on the website
- Volume 12, Issue 3 (September 2026)
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗DOAJ
- Submission system ↗LetPub
- Author guidelines ↗DOAJ
- Aims & Scope ↗DOAJ
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
- APC information ↗DOAJ
- Open access statement ↗DOAJ
- License & copyright ↗DOAJ
- Peer review process ↗DOAJ
- Editorial board ↗DOAJ
- Plagiarism policy ↗DOAJ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Urban Rail Transit
What CAS zone is Urban Rail Transit in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Urban Rail Transit is in Zone 3 of Engineering, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Transportation / Transportation Science & Technology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Urban Rail Transit?
The journal's website gives an impact factor of 3.6 (2025); this is the journal's own figure, as LetPub lists none for it; CiteScore 4.8, h-index 32.
How long does peer review take at Urban Rail Transit?
Based on the dates recorded on 48 articles published between October 2024 and October 2026 (the last 24 months), the median time from submission to acceptance is 127 days (interquartile range 96–194 days); authors report an average review time of about 5 weeks. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Where are the editorial board members of Urban Rail Transit based?
Of the 39 board members whose country the journal's board page names, 23 (about 59%) are in mainland China; the countries named most often are Mainland China (23), United States (7) and Thailand (2). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Urban Rail Transit?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Urban Rail Transit is indexed in ESCI, Scopus and DOAJ. The journal's website also lists EI Compendex and CAS; that list has not been checked against each database.
Is Urban Rail Transit open access, and what is the APC?
Urban Rail Transit is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,690.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, DOAJ, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-26). Last updated: .