The former Wuhan Transportation University mainly originated from National Maritime Vocational School in 1946. Then in 1949, the college changed its name to Wuhan Transportation College. in 1952, the college changed its name to Wuhan River Transportation College. Later in 1957, the college changed its name to Wuhan University of Water Transportation Engineering which then received the discipline adjustment by the Ministry of Transportation in 1963. More importantly, the college merged with Wuhan River Transportation School and thus got its name as Wuhan University of Water Transportation Engineering. Later in 1993, the college was officially named as Wuhan Transportation University by the Ministry of Transportation before its merge with the other two universities in May 2000.