The Department of Economics is one of the oldest departments in Beijing Jiaotong University. Many outstanding economists, such as Ma Yinchu, Zhao Chuanyun, Su Jingzhi, Xu Qingbin, Fang Ju, Chen Jingyan, Song Shuxun, Yao Peiji, have taught here. With the development of Jiaotong University, the discipline of transportation economics in New China started and grew up here, forming a national key discipline of industrial economics characterized by transportation economics. At present, there are 43 faculty members in the Department of Economics, including 13 professors and 1 national renowned faculty member. They have undertaken the National Social Science Foundation, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and a large number of provincial and ministerial level scientific research projects. The expert suggestions or internal references written by Rong Chaohe, Zhao Jian, Ou Guoli, Feng Hua, Li Menggang, etc. have paid attention to and approved by the national leaders and the government, and the relevant faculty members have been published articles in top academic journals at home and abroad such as Transportation Research. It has a wide range of academic and social influence at home and abroad by publishing papers in top journals such as research, making keynote speeches at important international and domestic conferences, publishing academic opinions and receiving special interviews in domestic and international media.

For a long time, faculty members in the Department of Economics have attached equal importance to teaching and scientific research, taking the cultivation of talents, inheriting culture and leading economic and social development as their own responsibilities. They have been engaged in such aspects as transportation economics, science and technology service industry and emerging industries, industrial organization and industrial security, international trade, economic statistics and quantitative economics, technological and innovation economics, regional economics, urban economics, energy economics and environmental economics. The surface forms a stable research direction. The Department of Economics has set up the Institute of transport economics theory and policy, the Institute of Service Economy and Emerging Industries, China Transportation and Economic Research Center, China Technology and Economy Research Center, and China Urbanization Research Center. It undertakes the construction tasks of two Beijing scientific research platforms - "Beijing Transportation Development Research Base" and "Beijing Industrial Security and Industrial Development Research Base". The National Communications and Transportation Association has jointly built an economics teaching practice base, holding "Transportation and Space-Time Economics Forum", "Industrial Security And Industrial Development Forum" and "Innovation Industry Forum" every year. Among them, the research directions of transportation and space-time economics, science and technology service industry and emerging industries are at the leading level in China.

The Department of Economics has an undergraduate major in economics, which is one of the first batch of national characteristic majors. Relying on the national key disciplines of industrial economics, it trains high-quality economics professionals with science and engineering foundation and transportation economic characteristics. It has provided a large number of talents for transportation departments, transportation research institutions, industrial management and research departments, central enterprises and other enterprises in China, enjoying a high reputation in the society. As one of the pilot Schools, SEM has strengthened the integration of undergraduate, master's and doctoral programs and the integration of science and education, and explored the undergraduate tutorial system and academy style training mode. Since 2013, more than 80% of the undergraduates majoring in economics have been studying for further study at home and abroad. The Department of Economics enrolls academic and applied statistics postgraduates majoring in industrial economics, international trade, economic statistics, technical economy and management. Under the first level discipline of Applied Economics, it enrolls PhD candidates in the study area of industrial organization, industrial structure and industrial security, transportation economic theory and policy, regional, urban and resource environment research, quantitative economy and technical economy. All faculty members in the Department of Economics will further do a good job in scientific research and personnel training, so as to build the Department into a first-class and internationally-renown faculty in China.